Crimson Night
by Hannah554
Summary: Vampire AU for Halloween. When Elizabeth is bitten by a demon of the night she undergoes a transformation that could change everything she is. Her freind Teyla searches for her and uncovers a world she never imagined exsisted. JohnLiz, RononTeyla.
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note: That's right, another AU from me lol. I've been writing this one for while and Halloween seemed the perfect time to post a vampire AU, so here it is.

**Warning: It is a vampire AU so biting and blood sucking will feature highly.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis or any of its characters.

Crimson Night

Chapter 1

Dark clouds filled the night sky blocking the view of the stars and releasing a downpour of torrential rain onto the streets of Atlantis. At this hour most of the cities residents were tucked away in their beds. The only sounds that could be heard were the pattering of rain on the various surfaces and the cars that would occasionally drive by. A lone figure walked along the street, her dark brown hair completely drenched by the rain fell to either side of her face reaching to just below her shoulders. Her green eyes scanned her surroundings as she watched for any sign of danger. It was not uncommon for people to go missing in Atlantis.

Elizabeth Weir attempted to brush her soaking wet hair away from her face and walked faster toward her apartment. She had to work late every night of the week, it was nothing new to her but tonight she had been forced to stay way beyond her usual hours. Pegasus was a beautiful restaurant and not a bad place to work but it was not where she wanted to spend the rest of her life. When she finally figured out what it was she wanted to do with her life she'd be out of there as fast as she could. Until then however it paid the bills and she would just have to deal with the ridiculous hours.

Due to it's popularity the place stayed open until midnight and even then they were having to kick people out. Tomorrow they had an inspector coming to check up on the place and so it had been all hands on deck to make sure everything was ready. It was for this reason she found herself walking home at 1.30 AM. Usually one of her colleagues who was heading in the same direction as her would drive her home but he had been off sick today. She'd been asked several times by other colleagues if she'd had another way home and she had told them all she did. Why did she have to be so stubborn and independent?

She was still five minutes from her home when she suddenly got the feeling she was being watched. She turned around but there was only the empty street behind her and she picked up her pace in an effort to reach the safety of her home faster. The feeling wouldn't go away and she continually glanced behind her to find no one there. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of a movement but once again when she span around there was nothing. For a moment she thought she was simply being paranoid but when it happened again she decided there was definitely someone there.

She clutched the strap of her bag tightly in her right hand as she broke into a run determined to get away from whoever was following her. She glanced behind her and this time she saw the silhouette of a man walking in her direction. She ran faster as she turned around the corner but her speed coupled with the slippery ground caused her to lose her balance and fall over. She hit the ground with a thud and felt the small stones that had been there dig into the skin of her hands. She stood back up quickly leaving her bag and its spilled contents on the floor.

Before she could go anywhere she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist from behind and she knew she had been caught. The man moved his free hand to grip her arm as he pulled her back against him.

"I win," he whispered against her ear obviously referring to their chase. Elizabeth braced herself for whatever fate this man had in mind for her prepared to run again if the opportunity presented itself. The mans lips drifted down to her neck brushing against her skin and she suddenly felt a sharp, agonising pain where his teeth sank into her skin. The pain increased causing her to cry out and she felt as though the life was being drained out of her body. The edges of her vision went dark and the pain was overtaken by the fog that began clouding her mind. She was so dizzy that if the man hadn't been holding onto her she would have fallen to the ground again. As the darkness began to spread through her vision she felt her eyes begin to droop and then she knew nothing else.

- - -

The shrill ringing of her alarm clock provided an unwelcome intrusion into Teyla's sleep and she reached out to silence the loathed piece of technology. Her hand fumbled around on it for a moment before she was forced to reluctantly open her eyes to locate the 'off' button. Once the room was quiet again she forced her legs off the edge of the bed and dragged her body out from under the covers.

She stood up immediately not giving herself time to change her mind and go back to sleep. She glanced at the clock as she stretched out her tired body and sighed when she saw the time. It was 7AM meaning she had only got five hours of sleep that night having not arrived home until almost 2AM. She and many of her colleagues who had been working the evening shift last night had been forced to stay late to prepare for the inspector that would be arriving sometime this morning. Unfortunately she had managed to land not only the evening shift yesterday but the day shift today. However she was not the only one so she would not be suffering alone.

She went into the bathroom and switched on the shower allowing the water a few moments to heat up whilst she removed the baby blue pyjamas she was wearing. She didn't take long to shower and walked back into her bedroom with a towel wrapped securely around her. Locating her uniform she got dressed and quickly pinned her hair back away from her face. The uniform was fairly simple and not a typical waitress outfit for which Teyla was grateful. The black skirt and white shirt gave her sophisticated look which she supposed came with working for a classy restaurant like Pegasus.

She quickly put on what little amount of make up she needed to make herself look less like she'd barely slept in two days before pinning her name badge to her uniform. It took her less than half an hour to get ready for work and she finally made her way into the kitchen where she set about the task of getting her first cup of coffee into her. She left the apartment just after 8.00 and located her car exactly where she had left it the night before, parked across the street. The drive to Pegasus took only fifteen minutes and once there the coffee had kicked in and she was ready to face another day of difficult and demanding customers.

Entering through the employee entrance she headed immediately to her locker smiling her greeting to her colleagues as she passed them. She threw her coat and bag into the small space before closing and locking it.

"Teyla," she heard a familiar voice call and she turned to see Laura Cadman heading in her direction. Teyla got along with everyone she worked with but there were very few of them she would actually call friends and Laura was one of the few. Even among her friends though there was only one person she was really close to and that was Elizabeth.

"Hey Laura," Teyla greeted and the blonde woman smiled as she came to a stop in front of her.

"I can't believe we're back here already, we only left a few hours ago," Laura stated though she definitely seemed more energetic than her statement would suggest. Teyla guessed she had already downed several cups of coffee and knowing her friend there were probably a few chocolate bars involved.

"We always seem to get the good shifts don't we?" Teyla questioned rhetorically "Is Elizabeth here yet?"

"Not yet but Damien's here and he's already driving everyone insane, more so than usual, you should see him he's so nervous," Laura informed her and Teyla nodded her head in understanding. Damien James was the owner of Pegasus, it had been his dream to own a restaurant and he had been way more than successful, Pegasus was one of the most popular restaurants in Atlantis.

"This inspection is important, if it doesn't go well it could ruin the restaurants reputation," Teyla explained as the two women headed toward the front of the restaurant to where Damien was frantically handing out orders.

"Teyla, Laura, the candle on table 17 needs replacing and the window over there could do with cleaning," Damien instructed them and two thoughts came to mind. The first being that neither the candle or the window needed altering in anyway and the second being that if Damien didn't calm down he was going to make himself pass out long before the inspector arrived.

"Damien, everything is fine, we made sure of that last night," Teyla reassured him and Damien stared at her for a moment before sighing.

"I just want this to go well," he told her.

"And it will," she replied with an encouraging smile "Now why don't you go relax and we'll finish opening up."

Damien wordlessly left the room she assumed to do what she had suggested and she watched him go. Everyone in the room seemed relieved when he left and one of the other waitresses walked up to her with a worn looking cloth in her hand. "Thank God, I was gonna hit him if he made me clean that vase one more time," she said with a smile which Teyla returned in amusement. They all liked Damien but when it came to his restaurant he was stressful to be around.

"Okay everyone," Teyla called "It's 9 o clock, lets open up and watch out for the inspector, we don't know what time he's coming so let's be sure to make a good impression."

There were several murmurs of agreement as one of the waiters went to unlock the doors. Teyla looked around the room noticing Elizabeth was not there yet which had Teyla concerned, Elizabeth was never late. Within a few minutes the restaurant was filling up with people most of whom had reservations and all of them wanting to be served breakfast. It was almost 10.30 when Laura walked over to her clearly restraining herself from running.

"He's here," was all Laura said and Teyla knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Where?" Teyla questioned and Laura pointed to a smartly dressed man sitting patiently at one of the tables. "How do you know?"

"You can just tell," Laura said with a slight shrug of her shoulder and Teyla rolled her eyes. "He's already ordered his meal."

Teyla nodded her head, they knew how these things worked they had done it enough times. He would order his meal and if all went well he would then reveal he was the inspector and be allowed to inspect the premises. Laura wondered off again to tend to her customers and Teyla did the same keeping an eye on the man they believed to be the inspector.

The rest of the morning passed as more of a blur, Laura had indeed identified the inspector correctly and both his meal and the tour of the building had gone smoothly. He had left telling them they had done a good job and had nothing to worry about which had served to calm Damien down. It was about 1 o clock when Damien called her into his office, his expression and voice had told her something was wrong and she had exchanged a brief glance with Laura before following him.

A man and a woman were waiting in the office and she could see the badges attached to their belts that indicated they were part of the Atlantis Police. "Teyla, please sit down," Damien suggested. "This is Detective Adams and Peterson."

"What's going on?" she questioned trying to keep the worry out of her voice as she sat down.

"It's Elizabeth," Damien informed her gravely and she felt a sudden wave of fear hit her. She'd known something was wrong when her friend hadn't shown up for work that morning.

"Her purse was found lying in the middle of the street this morning, we checked her apartment but there was no one there," the man, Detective Adams explained.

"Oh my God," Teyla breathed as realisation sunk in, something had happened to Elizabeth.

"It's too early to assume anything," Peterson stated but Teyla was now struggling to concentrate on what was being said. She vaguely heard them say something about an investigation but it wasn't until she heard her name that she realised they'd asked her a question.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" she asked.

"Can you think of anyone that would want to hurt Ms Weir?" Peterson repeated her question patiently.

"No, no one," Teyla replied and the detectives seemed to take pity on her, at least for now, and directed the rest of their questions to Damien. When they were done they left the room and Damien gave her moment to pull herself together before he spoke.

"Are you okay?" he questioned his concern for both her and Elizabeth obvious.

"No," she relied honestly with a slight shake of her head. "The others will want to know."

"I'll tell them. Why don't you take the rest of the day off," it was more of an instruction than a suggestion so Teyla simply stood up and left the office. She went immediately to her locker and took out her coat and bag before heading to her car and driving home. She acted on autopilot the entire time forcing herself to keep her emotions in check until she was in her apartment.

She sat down on the couch and pulled her legs up to her chest before wrapping her arms around them. It was only then that she realised she was shaking, whether or not she had been shaking since she'd spoken to the police or if it had started sometime after she didn't know. The police had said it was too early to assume anything but a nagging feeling inside her was telling her something had happened to Elizabeth.

- - -

Laura quickly took the customers order, scribbling it down on her pad of paper and smiling curtly before heading in the direction of the kitchen. She saw Damien walk into the room looking even more solemn than when he had called for Teyla. Teyla for her part was no where to be seen and it only made her more worried.

"Excuse me, can I see all my employees in the kitchen for a moment please," it was not a question or even suggestion, it was an order. Laura's worry increased ten fold, why the hell would he be pulling them all away from work at the same time?

"I apologise if this inconveniences anybody but my people will get back to work within a few minutes," he announced to the room. There were several whispers among the customers, some of them in acceptance others in annoyance. The staff were also whispering amongst themselves all of the confused and curious as to what was going on.

Laura followed the group through to the kitchen where Damien had already called a halt to the cooking. Everyone packed into the room taking up whatever space there was and stared at Damien expectantly. Laura was stood directly in front of him and he gave her a sad smile.

"I'm sure many of you have noticed that Elizabeth failed to show up for work this morning. I wanted to tell you all this now because I believe you have a right to know and I didn't want any rumours being spread. The police believe that Elizabeth is missing," Damien informed them and he paused when the room suddenly erupted into questions and conversations. Laura stood there silently unable to comprehend what she was hearing.

"Her purse was found in the middle of the street this morning and there was no sign of her at her home. They are beginning to investigate but hopefully she'll turn up safe and well. I know this is a lot to take in and if any of you feel the need to go home you can but I would very much appreciate it if you continued with your work."

Laura listened as Damien finished his speech and the room once again erupted in noise. Most people began to leave the room to go back to work and the chefs once again resumed cooking. Laura stood frozen in place as she tried to wrap her head around the situation. It explained why Teyla was called away and why she hadn't come back with Damien, she was closer to Elizabeth than any of them.

"Laura, are you okay?" Damien asked her placing a hand on her arm and drawing her back to reality with a crash.

"I'll be fine," she replied somewhat shakily.

"Do you want to go home?" he asked her obviously concerned.

"No, I want to go back to work, Elizabeth wouldn't want this to affect our work," she stated taking a deep breath to steady herself. "Is Teyla alright?"

"She was pretty shook up, I sent her home for the rest of the day and we'll have to see what happens but I'll probably give her some time off," he explained and Laura simply nodded.

"I'll go and check on her later," she said quietly before she left the kitchens and headed back out to the front of the restaurant. Everyone had got back to work but the atmosphere was considerably different. They all wore sad, fearful expressions and the customers had all seemed to notice the sudden change. She heard many of them whispering about it and speculating as to what exactly had happened.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **Thanks for the review, sorry if the summary confused you. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818** – Wow, I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter and that the first scene gave you chills, I think that's on of my favourite things I've ever wrote. Teyla and Elizabeth have always struck as people who would become friends very easily. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Dr. Dredd – **Oh what a sexy vampire John would make indeed, I'll see what I can do about adding some Carson/Laura, see ask and you shall receive lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Stargatecrazy – **Thanks for your help with the summary, your ideas were not rubbish. I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter and thanks for the review.

**Steph7085 – **(joins in swooning) Dark and sexy vampire John, glad you liked the opening. Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 2

Elizabeth felt like the whole world was spinning as she started to wake up. She opened her eyes slowly to take in her unfamiliar surroundings and forced her tired body to sit up. She was lying on a large double bed that had a dark red cover, the carpet and most of the other fabrics in the room were also red. She put her hand up to her forehead and closed her eyes against the headache that had formed there.

Her memories came back to her suddenly and she had to fight the urge to be sick. Someone had chased her through the streets and grabbed her around the waist, he had whispered something to her before he had bit her neck. She threw her hand up to her neck where his teeth had been but she couldn't feel any marks there. She briefly considered that maybe the whole thing had just been a nightmare but her current surroundings told her it wasn't. What the hell had that man done to her?

She got out of bed glad to find she was still wearing her waitress uniform but her coat was now draped over the back of a chair. She walked over to the door and tried to open it only to find she was locked in. Turning back to the rest of the room she sighed as she tried to figure out how she was going to get herself out of there. There were no windows and the only door was locked. She walked over to the chair where her jacket was and searched through the pockets hoping that she had put her phone in there instead of her bag, unfortunately it seemed she just wasn't that lucky at the moment.

The sound of the door unlocking made her turn around just in time to see it open and a young man walked in. He had dark hair and green eyes and looked about the same build as the guy who had chased her down last night, it had to be the same man. He smiled slightly when he saw her standing there.

"You're finally awake I see," he stated.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"John Sheppard, care to share your name, I didn't ask earlier."

"What do you want with me?" she questioned but the guy ignored her instead walking over to the large wardrobe and opening the doors. He pulled out some clothes, black trousers and a red shirt and walked toward her. Elizabeth took a step back as he placed the clothes on the table next to her.

It was then her mind realised that he hadn't locked the door when he'd walked in. She took the opportunity making a run for the door but within seconds her mind started spinning and she could feel herself falling. Two strong arms wrapped around her waist catching her before she hit the ground.

"Take it easy," he told her "You'll feel weak and dizzy for a couple of hours, most people do but it should wear off soon."

"What have you done to me?" she questioned her voice sounding weak and frail.

"I have made you one of us, an immortal," he explained and Elizabeth decided she definitely didn't like the sound of that as he released his hold on her, she stood up herself and turned around to face him. She had seen enough movies to know what this whole situation seemed like but she refused to believe that's what it was.

"Please let me go," Elizabeth found herself pleading and the man simply smiled at her.

"I don't think that would be such a good idea, the sun's still up," he told her and Elizabeth's eyes widened as she realised the implications of what he was saying. "And she finally understands," he stated almost victoriously.

"It's not possible," she said fearfully as she backed away from him.

"It's very possible, you're a vampire," he told her with a smile and Elizabeth's legs once again collapsed beneath her except this time he didn't catch her. She landed on her knees, it sounded completely ridiculous but some part of her was telling her it was true. He watched her for several moments seeming to study her before he walked toward her and knelt down.

"It's not as bad as you think, you'll get used to it," he told her before he walked out of the room. "Now I suggest you get changed, your clothes are still damp from the rain last night and I'm sure they can't be comfortable. I'll be back to check on you soon," he told her before he stood up and left the room. She heard the click of the door locking and she remained on the floor as she watched him leave.

- - -

Teyla watched as the sun began to set outside her window and night finally began to fall after what seemed like the longest day of her life. There had been no word on what had happened to Elizabeth and Teyla feared the worst. She wished she could do more to help discover her friends whereabouts but she wouldn't even no where to start. A knock at the door drew her attention and she walked over opening it slowly.

Laura was standing there with a sad expression similar to the one she was sure she was wearing. Teyla stepped back and gestured for the young blonde to enter the apartment and then closed the door behind her.

"I take it you heard then," Teyla stated as she moved to sit on the couch with her friend.

"Yeah, Damien told us all earlier, I came to see how you were holding up," Laura replied sadly.

"Not too good," she admitted and Laura nodded her head in acceptance.

"The atmosphere at work was terrible after Damien told us, we all did our best to keep serving the customers but no one had their heart in it," Laura explained "Damien says he's probably going to give you some time off."

"Probably a good idea, I don't think I'll be much use to anyone right now," she said and Laura didn't reply. She knew how much it took for Teyla to admit when she was defeated, she could be dieing from some serious illness and she'd still insist she was good enough to work.

"What did the police say?" Laura questioned.

"Not much, I wasn't really paying a whole lot of attention but they said it was too early to assume anything yet," Teyla told her what little she could remember from her brief meeting with the Atlantis Police.

"Why would anybody hurt Elizabeth, she's one of the nicest people I know?" Laura asked rhetorically.

"It probably wasn't even someone who knew her, just some sick person who wanted to hurt someone and Elizabeth presented the perfect victim. I knew she didn't have a way home, why didn't she just tell me I would have given her a ride?" Teyla questioned, she was more angry at herself than anyone else though, she should have been more persistent when Elizabeth had told her she had a way home.

"You know Elizabeth, stubborn and independent," Laura stated with a fond smile at the thought of their missing friend.

"I just wish we had any idea what had happened, the police said there was no sign of a struggle, no blood, weapon, nothing. It looked like she had just dropped her bag and disappeared."

"Look I have to go," Laura told her "I really don't feel like being out in the dark at the moment, I'll see you tomorrow okay."

"Yeah," Teyla replied absently and she heard Laura say she'd see herself out. Teyla's mind was already busy trying to figure out what cold have happened to Elizabeth. Her friend wasn't the type of person to just go quietly, she would have struggled, called for help, tried to run, something. Somebody must have heard or seen something.

- - -

John Sheppard made his way through the dimly lit hallways of the underground to the door of his room. He sighed when he saw the man standing there waiting for him with a curious expression on his face. Michael was a gossip and usually the source of most rumours that spread around.

"Is it true?" he asked immediately.

"Is what true?" John questioned deciding not to make it easy on the man, if he wanted some gossip John was going to make him work for it.

"Did you turn someone?" he asked and John grimaced inwardly as he opened the door to his room and took one step inside before turning to block Michael's way.

"I don't think that's any of your business," he replied and the man smiled.

"You did didn't you, I have to see this person. John Sheppard actually turning someone, I never thought I'd see the day," Michael commented clearly getting over excited about the situation.

"You stay away from that room Michael, I mean it, if I find out that you've been anywhere near that door I'll kill you, understand," John threatened him.

"Understood," Michael half pouted before storming away and John closed the door before moving to sit down on the large red couch. He didn't know why he had turned the woman, Michael was right, he never turned anybody he didn't want to curse them with the life of a vampire. Despite the obvious perks he didn't enjoy being a vampire as much as people thought he did. He felt guilty after every kill and wouldn't wish that on anybody. So why had he turned her?

Now she was cursed to live the life of a night walker and that was his fault. She would have to suffer with the guilt that came from killing mortals and be cut off from the life she had lived before, from the people that she had cared about. Something about her though had caught his attention, and when he had bitten her, when he had tasted her blood he had felt an overwhelming urge to get to know her.

The urge had been so strong it had made him turn her into one of them instead of just killing her as he usually would have. His own selfish desires had cost her not only her life but would most probably cost her soul too. Most people when they turned would fight it at first but with every kill they gained more and more of a thirst. Each death would leave them craving more until there was nothing left of the person they had once been, only the vampire and the thirst remained.

He stood up and walked over to his desk where a small note was waiting from him. He read it and found himself sighing again, the Elders wanted to see him, this was not a good day. He left his room once again and headed immediately to the great chamber where the Elders were no doubt plotting something evil. The double doors were opened for him by the guards and closed behind him with a thud.

The Elders were all sat behind a semicircular table that John was stood in the centre of. They all wore grey cloaks which kept their faces in shadow masking their identities. "You wanted to see me?" he questioned his voice echoing slightly in the large room.

"John Sheppard, we have been told that you turned a mortal," one of them stated.

"I did," John replied forcing the guilt and regret to stay out of his voice, they would do him no good here.

"Is there a reason?" Another questioned.

"No, it just happened," he half lied and there was silence for a moment.

"This person is now your responsibility, it is up to you to ensure she learn our ways and the rules that she must follow. If she steps out of line you will both be held accountable," a third elder told him.

"I understand, My Lords" he answered and waited until he was sure the conversation was over before he left the room.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Mari – **Aww thank you, I'm glad you enjoy my AU's. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Comanche-Antigo – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the first chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too.

**Dr. Dredd - ** Having Michael as a vampire just seemed natural lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **I'm glad you liked the clothes John picked for Elizabeth and I love the John as a vampire thing too, very fine. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review.

- - -

Chapter 3

Elizabeth had been left alone in the room for over a day, finally deciding the her waitress uniform was dirty enough she had changed into the clothes John had laid out for her. At some point exhaustion had finally won out over her fear and she slept for a few hours. She found it strange that vampires needed sleep, not the she was entirely convinced that's what she was yet. She was also surprised she was still standing after two days with no food or water, though she was beginning to feel hungry.

The door to the room opened and John walked in closing it behind him but once again not locking it. "How do you feel?" he asked her.

"Better," she replied and for some reason she didn't feel as afraid of him now as she had been before.

"Do I get to find out your name yet?" he questioned.

"Elizabeth, Elizabeth Weir," she told him and he nodded his head.

"That's pretty," he commented and Elizabeth could see the confusion and uncertainty in his eyes, perhaps he wasn't as confident as he first appeared to be. "As per our custom, you have been placed in my care. I know this is going to be hard for you but in another couple of days you're going to need to feed," he continued and it took Elizabeth a moment to realise what he meant. She shook her head emphatically and took a step away from him.

"I won't do that," she stated adamantly and the look on his face told her he had expected that answer.

"You'll have to, vampires need to feed every few days, usually about twice a week, sometimes less but if you don't you'll die," he informed her and Elizabeth continued to shake her head though this time it was more slowly. There was no way she was going to take someone else's life just to save her own.

"It's hard at first and as much as I hate to say it… you get used to it," he explained and she was sure she heard sadness, maybe even guilt in his voice.

"I just want to go home," she told him as she barely held back her tears, she would not cry in front of him.

"No you don't," he replied his green eyes locking with hers as he tried to convey the seriousness of his words. "When your cravings get to be too much your vampire instincts will take over and you'll attack any human you come in contact with. If you go home the people you'll kill will be the people you love, I've seen it happen before and you don't want that on your conscience."

"But I want other people's lives on my conscience?" she asked him incredulously.

"Of course not but it's easier than having the blood of your loved ones on your hands," he stated sadly and she wondered for a moment if he was speaking from experience.

"Why did you do this to me?" she questioned.

"I didn't mean to, it just happened," he told her before he stood up to leave. "The sun is still up so you can't go outside but if you promise not to run I'll let you out of this room."

Elizabeth thought about it for a moment, were their other people like him…like them here and if there were did she really want to meet them? On the other hand if she had any hope of getting out of there she needed to know where she was and what she would be up against. "I won't run," she promised him and he opened the door and gestured for her to join him.

They walked down the long dim corridor, the walls were made of large stone bricks, the floor was concrete and it gave it almost mystical feel. It was a few minutes before they came across any other people. They passed two women, both of them wearing very tight revealing clothes and they stared at her curiously as she passed them. She was sure there had been jealousy in their too but she put it down to her imagination, after all what did they have to be jealous about? She'd been snatched from her life and turned into a monster and she was fairly sure they'd probably have gone through the same thing.

They walked up a winding staircase made entirely of stone and soon they were passing more and more people and when one of the men leered at her she found herself stepping closer to John. Though why she didn't know, he was the one that had done this to her she had no reason to feel safer with him.

"This is the dining room," he told her "But I hardly ever go in there."

"You have a dining room?" she asked almost afraid of the answer, what exactly did they eat in there?

"We can actually eat normal food though it doesn't stop us from needing to feed every few days. Down that way is the great chamber, it's where the elders convene, they're our leaders. The lower floors are mostly living quarters and the lowest floor is the great library," he informed her as they continued to walk. She noticed she had seen no windows, nothing of the outside world and she was fairly sure there were no buildings like this in Atlantis.

"Where exactly are we?" she finally decided to ask.

"Underground, deep underground, several miles beneath the subway," he replied and Elizabeth felt her heart sink, that was going to make getting out of here more difficult. He started walking down the corridor without her and she briefly contemplated running away whilst he wasn't looking and trying to find a way out but she quickly quashed that thought. Not only would she get hopelessly lost and probably recognised by most people anyway but she had promised him she wouldn't run and for some unfathomable reason she felt compelled to keep that promise.

- - -

Standing on the street Elizabeth's purse had been found on Teyla looked at the surrounding buildings. A few apartments, some shops, a Chinese take out, most of them would have had people inside and she refused to believe that they had all been asleep and heard nothing.

She knew this was the police's job and they would be doing all of this but she had to find out for herself. Besides, asking a few questions wouldn't do any harm and if she turned up something useful so much the better. She knew the take out and shops would probably have been closed at that time of morning so there was really no point in trying there. Looking at one of the apartment blocks she decided to make that her target and headed toward it. A young man walked out of it so she ran up the steps and grabbed the door before it could close and lock her out.

The occupants of the apartments at the back and sides of the building wouldn't have seen anything so she went to the ones at the front. She knocked on the first door and waited the few minutes it took for an answer. A middle aged woman walked out and Teyla felt suddenly awkward about doing this now that she was actually here.

"May I help you?" the woman questioned.

"Yes, I'm sorry to have disturbed you but I just wanted to ask you a question. A friend of mine went missing yesterday morning, her purse was found on the street just outside this apartment. It was about 1.30 AM, I was just wondering if maybe you'd seen or heard anything," Teyla informed her and the woman shook her head sympathetically.

"I'm sorry, I would have been asleep at that time," she replied.

Teyla nodded her head in acceptance knowing she was probably going to get that answer a lot. "Okay thank you."

"I hope you find your friend, I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help," the woman said and Teyla gave her a grateful smile before walking over to the stairs. The two people she spoke to on the second floor didn't know anymore than the woman downstairs and one of them had in fact been quite rude about it. She'd already received the same answer from one person on the third floor and was quickly running out of potential witnesses.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see or hear anything last night, I was probably in bed anyway," the young woman told her.

Teyla sighed, this wasn't getting her anywhere, she was getting the same answer from everyone. "Do you know of anyone who might have been awake, who could have seen something?" she questioned and the woman looked thoughtful for a moment.

"The woman in the apartment above me, Sophia, I think her name is, she's a little crazy but I sometimes hear her shuffling about up there in the middle of the night, she could have been awake," she stated and Teyla smiled and thanked her before once again climbing the stairs. She came to the door she was looking for and knocked but no one answered, she tried again and was about to give up when she heard someone fiddling with locks at the other side of the door. When it finally opened she was hit by the smell of incense and the aging woman who glared at her warily.

"Who are you, what do you want?" she asked quickly.

"I'm sorry to bother you but my friend went missing from the street outside this apartment at about 1.30 AM yesterday. I was just wondering if maybe you'd seen or heard anything," Teyla told her though she doubted she was going to get anything useful from the woman who's wary glare had turned into a suspicious, judging one.

After a minute the woman seemed to finish judging her and gestured for her to follow her into the apartment. Teyla stared after her reluctantly, this seemed like a bad idea but if she knew something about Elizabeth then she had to take thee risk and find out. She stepped into the apartment a little more use to the smell now and followed the old woman to the window.

Her long, grey hair had obviously been blonde once, there were still strands of it visible here and there. She gazed out onto the street and Teyla closed the door and moved to stand near her.

"The woman, she was very pretty, shouldn't have been out alone at such an hour, even if he had not been there," she stated as she continued to stare out of the window.

"You mean somebody was there, somebody took her?" Teyla questioned, her mind racing with this new piece of information.

"No, not a somebody, a somebody has to have a soul," the woman replied and Teyla shook her head in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Teyla asked and decided the point was mute, this woman really did seem crazy. Her apartment was full of crosses and beneath the incense there was a faint smell of garlic. "Was Elizabeth taken?" she questioned emphasising each word.

"Yes."

Now they were getting somewhere, Teyla thought to herself. "Did you see who it was, did you see who took her?" The questions were pointless now, the woman seemed too lost in her own thoughts to answer and she was staring to creep Teyla out. "Thank you for your help," Teyla said as she turned to leave the apartment.

"You would do well to forget," the woman stated as she left and Teyla turned to see her looking directly at Teyla with a deep, piercing stare that would have scared most people senseless… including her. She made a beeline for the door and left the apartment, shaking off the experience and heading down the stairs.

Elizabeth had been taken, she'd thought that before but now it was confirmed. She just hoped she was still alive somewhere, waiting to be found.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors note: Sorry about the wait everyone, I feel very mean but I've just had no motivation or inspiration to write recently. Hopefully I'll be updating this and my other fics over the next few days, hope it was worth the wait.**

**Saphiretwin369 – **I though the dining room was a nice touch lol, thanks for the review and we'll learn more about Sophia later in the story, hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **I'm glad you like Teyla in this story and of course the Sparky. You'll just have to wait and see what happens to them, thanks for the review.

**Beasty bex – **Thanks for the review.

**Stargatecrazy – **I figured it was only fitting to make Michael a vampire, life sucking wraith, life sucking vampire. I'm really glad you're enjoying the fic crazy and I hope you enjoy this chapter too, thanks for the review.

**Steph7085 – **There is a reason Sophia is the way she is and you'll find that out later. Thanks for the review, hope you enjoy the chapter.

- - -

Chapter 4

Teyla had informed the police of what the old woman had said and they'd told her they'd send someone to get a statement from her. Then they'd politely informed her that she could comprise the investigation if she continued with her own and to leave it to them. That had been two days ago and she had heard nothing else since then. She'd been given a week off work which ended in a few days time so if she was ever going to do anything to look for Elizabeth, she had to do it now. The problem was… where did she go from here?

She was currently on her way to Elizabeth's apartment to see if she could find anything though she doubted it. Elizabeth had never made it home and she was fairly sure it had just been a random attack, there was no reason for anyone to go after Elizabeth personally. Nevertheless, it never hurt to look and she had nothing else to go on anyway.

Unlocking the door with her spare key she could tell immediately that the police had already been through here. Things had been moved from the places Elizabeth always kept them in and she knew it had not been her friends doing. She closed the door behind her and walked over to the shelf where several books were missing. She looked around and located them on the coffee table so she picked them up and put them back into their proper place.

She looked out of the window, Elizabeth's apartment was fairly high up, she had a good view of the city from here. Her friend was out there somewhere, she knew it, she just had to find her.

She sighed and turned around locating the blinking light on the answering machine. She pressed the button and the machine informed her she had one message and proceeded to tell her the time and date of the message, which happened to be the day she'd found out Elizabeth was missing, before it played it.

"Elizabeth, it's Damien, you haven't shown up for work so I'm just calling into check up on you, give me a call."

Absolutely not useful in anyway, Teyla thought to herself, she'd almost been hoping for a message from a mob boss telling her she had to pay them or they were going to kidnap and lock her in a closet for a very unfair amount of time. She shook her head at herself, cos that was a realistic possibility.

She wasn't going to find anything here, she'd never thought that she would and even if there had been any evidence, the police would have found it and taken it. She had no clue where to go from here, how do you find someone when they seemed to have quite literally vanished. All she had to go on were some old woman's insane ramblings and they weren't real informative, maybe this job was best left for the police.

Sitting down on Elizabeth's couch she felt completely lost, there was nothing. No evidence, no people with grudges against her, nothing to base any kind of theory on so no direction to go in. Elizabeth lived a fairly solitary life, she had few friends and even fewer close ones. She barely spoke to her family, in fact she wasn't even entirely sure her mother knew she was missing yet, she should call and make sure. Elizabeth had Teyla listed as next of kin and her mother had remarried after her father's death so now had a different surname.

Elizabeth grabbed her cell phone out of her purse and picked up Elizabeth's address book to locate her mother's number. Finding it she dialled and it was several moments before she heard the vaguely familiar voice answer the phone.

"Mrs Adams?" Teyla questioned to make sure.

"That's me, who's calling?" Mrs Adam's replied.

"It's Teyla, Elizabeth's friend, I was just calling to make sure you knew about Elizabeth," she stated and there was a pause for a moment before Elizabeth's mother replied.

"Yes, I know, though I only found out this morning when I got a visit from the police," she informed her sounding slightly bitter and less upset that Teyla would have expected for a mother who'd just been informed, probably only hours ago, that her daughter had been missing for a couple of days.

"I'm sorry Mrs Adams, I only just thought to call you," Teyla apologised feeling the smallest bit guilty that she hadn't called sooner. "The police are looking into it but there's really not a lot for them to go on, she seems to have just disappeared into thin air."

"So they've told me but I'm sure she'll turn up somewhere," her friend's mother stated and Teyla got the impression she was trying to convince herself more than anything, perhaps she did actually care.

"The trouble is it seems to have been a random attack, I don't know of anybody that had any reason to hurt Elizabeth," Teyla stated hoping for Mrs Adams to confirm her belief that there was no one with reason to abduct Elizabeth.

"Neither do I," she responded and Teyla nodded her head, more to her own thoughts than anything else.

"If there's anything I can do to help or if you think of anything that might help the police, please call me," Teyla told her and after assuring her she would Elizabeth's mother hung up and Teyla put her phone back in her bag. She walked back over to the window and looked out at the huge city around her.

"Where are you?"

- - -

She walked back toward her room with John at her side, he let her out of her room once a day but he always stayed with her. He told her it was for her own good, that too many people had to tried to make a run for it and been killed by the sunlight they had not yet learnt to fear.

She was feeling tired more often these days, it wasn't particularly a physical tiredness but she could tell it was going to turn into one. John always seemed to be watching her with a judging expression, though she didn't know what he was judging her for. They were still several minutes from her room when a young man stepped in front of them and she felt John tense up next to her.

"You must be Elizabeth, you're the talk of the underground," he stated and held a hand out to her. "I'm Michael."

She looked at the hand warily, something abut him coupled with John's reaction to him made her instantly not like him. Sensing she was not going to accept his hand he pulled it back and looked at John. "Interesting pick, didn't see you as one for the silent type."

"Get out of here Michael," John ordered.

"You don't own the hallways Sheppard, I can go wherever I like and talk to whoever I want to," Michael informed him maliciously.

"Why am I the talk of the underground?" Elizabeth asked surprising both of them. "Surely turning people into vampires isn't new to you."

"No, in fact it happens quite often, he's just never been the one to do it," Michael replied with a look at John and Elizabeth found herself analysing that fact. Why had he never turned anyone before and why had he decided to start with her?

"Michael, get out of my way," John instructed his tone leaving no room for protest and Michael obediently moved to the side and let them passed. It wasn't lost on her that John made sure that she walked slightly in front of him as they did so and then stayed slightly behind her until they reached her room. "It's time," he told her once he had closed the door behind them.

"Time?" she questioned.

"You need to feed," he stated and Elizabeth looked as though she'd just seen a ghost, she'd actually forgotten about that or more accurately refused to remember.

"No," she replied shaking her head. "I won't do it."

"You don't have a choice, you will die if you don't," he told her adamantly emphasising the last part.

"Then I'll die," she stated seriously "I will not take someone else's life just to save my own."

John looked frustrated with her but he seemed to bite his tongue against whatever it was he wanted to say. Instead he turned and walked out of the room almost slamming it behind him, it seemed that even in his enraged state of mind he still remembered to lock the door because she heard the usual click.

She sighed and sat down on the large bed behind her. So that's what the tiredness was, she needed to eat, why she hadn't thought of that before she didn't know. She probably just hadn't wanted to acknowledge it, she still didn't want to acknowledge it. John's judging face made sense now too, he was watching her to find out when she was going to need to feed.

She didn't even want to think about it, someone was going to die, whether it be her or someone else.

- - -

It was getting late and Teyla hadn't even realised how dark it was getting. She's been sat in Elizabeth's apartment trying to figure out what her next step should be and hadn't noticed the decreasing amount of light. She was more grateful for her car than she had ever been before, driving in the dark was one thing, walking was another. Since Elizabeth's disappearance a few days ago she'd been far more wary of being out at night.

She'd get over it eventually, she had no choice since many of her shifts at work had her working until after midnight but with whatever had happened to Elizabeth still fresh on her mind she made point of being inside once it was dark.

She found herself on the street where Elizabeth had disappeared and she stopped the car for a moment. It didn't look like a bad neighbour hood, in fact there were still one or two kids playing near the apartment complex, though they'd probably be getting dragged in by their parents anytime now.

Why hadn't Elizabeth just told her she didn't have a way home? She would have been more than happy to drive her and it wasn't as if she lived miles away. If she'd just said something instead of being her usual independent self none of this would have happened. Teyla quickly pushed that thought and all similar ones out of her head. The only person to blame here was the person that took her, this wasn't her fault, or Elizabeth's or anyone else's and thinking anything different would not help bring her friend back.

She looked up at the apartment building she had visited a few days ago, the old woman was standing at her window staring down at Teyla. She knew something, Teyla was sure of it. Now if only she could stop being creepy long enough to tell her then maybe Teyla could get somewhere. All that talk about somebodies having souls had to stop.

Feeling like she was being watched and not only by the crazy woman in the window Teyla got back in her car and drove home. She practically ran across the road and into her apartment building, going up the stairs and into her apartment in record time. She was being far too easily spooked at the moment and that was another thing that had to stop.

She jumped when the phone rang and she rolled her eyes at herself as she went to answer it. "Hello."

"She was not the first and she won't be the last," a female voice stated and Teyla froze for a brief moment.

"Who is this?" she asked but received no answer "What do you mean she's not the first?"

The line went dead and Teyla stared at the phone warily for a moment as though she suspected it would harm her somehow. Not the first? What was that supposed to mean, she didn't know enough about what was going on. It could mean a million different things. She finally put the phone down and slouched into the chair behind her, closing her eyes against the headache that was forming.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **I'm glad you liked the last chapter, you're right John doesn't want Liz to die but I think part of it is guilt too. Hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Saphiretwin369** – Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoy ma AU's and you'll just have to wait and see who called Teyla, wouldn't want to give too much away.

**Stargatecrazy – **I figured since Elizabeth is slowly beginning to see that John isn't all bad that if he didn't like someone she'd automatically not trust them either. As for Elizabeth trusting to John, well lets just say something happens in this chapter that will take them back to square one. Thanks for the review.

**Fyd818 – **I'm glad you liked Elizabeth's reaction to the dining room and the fact that they can still eat regular food. It just seemed fitting to make Michael a vampire, life sucking wraith equals blood sucking vampire lol. Glad you like Teyla's story line which starts getting interesting in the next few chapters. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **Thanks, glad you liked it.

- - -

Chapter 5

It was more than just a physical exhaustion now, mentally and emotionally she was drained and she was so weak that she was sure she'd break if someone touched her. She was dying, she knew it, she could feel it but she refused to do the one thing that would save her. She would not become one of them, killing people to save herself and then turning them into this. She sat in the middle of the large bed, she was struggling to keep warm now but she refused to allow herself to shiver.

"Elizabeth, you have to eat," John told her emphasising every word as he sat down on the edge of the bed facing her.

"No," was all she could manage at first and she had to summon up all of her strength to speak. "I'm a monster, if I have to choose between that and death, I choose death. No person's life is worth the life of a monster."

"You're not a monster," he told her but she cut him off.

"I'm a killer, there's no difference," she told him angrily and she was sure that she once again saw guilt in his eyes before he covered it up.

"You're not gonna survive much longer Elizabeth," John told her and he seemed to genuinely not want her to die. "You have a day left at most."

"Good," was the only response she gave as she looked down at the red sheets she was sitting on. It was best for everyone this way and the sooner the end came the better as far as she was concerned. She was terrified, she didn't want to die but the alternative was something she couldn't live with.

She heard John sigh before he walked out of the room and she figured she'd probably seen him for the last time, she'd probably seen everyone for the last time. It made her even more afraid, knowing that she was going to die alone and if her current condition was any indication, it was not going to be a nice death.

She summoned her strength and stood up walking across the room to where her waitress uniform was. She picked it up and held the fabric in her hands, it was all she had left of who she used to be. Looking up she caught site of herself in the mirror, vampires actually had reflections? Boy, did movies get stuff wrong. She was pale, paler than she could ever remember being and she really did look like a woman about to die.

The thought gave her a surprising sense of freedom, if John came back maybe she should ask him to let her go outside. If the sun was up then so much the better, a quick death, quicker than what she was going through anyway. To think five days ago she'd been walking down the street in the middle of the night, getting soaked because she was being her usual stubborn and independent self. She'd been normal, just like everyone else, trying to figure out who she was and what she wanted to do with her life. Now there was no life to figure out, she was dieing, if she was even technically alive, weren't vampires supposed to be dead, or half dead or something?

She didn't really care, she wasn't going to be one of them for much longer anyway.

- - -

Teyla had a feeling she knew who the female voice on the phone belonged to. It lacked the creepy, far away quality it'd had when she was actually in the room with the woman but the more she thought about it, the more she knew she was right. That was why she now found herself climbing the stairs of the apartment building and knocking on Sophia's door once again.

The old woman unlocked the door after several minutes and allowed Teyla inside. Teyla walked in, she was in no mood for games today, she only had a couple of days until she had to be back at work. "That was you on the phone wasn't it?" she questioned as Sophia closed the door and then walked into the dimly lit room without answering. "I know it was you, how did you even get my number?"

"That is not important," Sophia said quietly.

"You're right it's not, what did you mean, she's not the first?" Teyla questioned and when Sophia made no move to answer the question Teyla took a step toward her "My friend's life is at stake, you'd better start giving me answers."

"Your friend is already lost to you," Sophia replied with that far away voice that creeped her out.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked afraid of the answer.

"He took her life from her," Sophia stated and Teyla's breath caught in her throat and she was sure her heart had stopped beating. She was only reassured that it had started again when it started pounding in her chest.

"He killed her?" she finally managed to ask.

"Not killed, she walks among them now, a soulless demon," Sophia told her and Teyla was getting that freaked out feeling that had made her leave last time. This woman very obviously had a screw loose. "They have taken others before her and they'll continue to do so… you do not understand," she continued.

"I'd understand better if you stopped talking in riddles," Teyla stated angrily and watched as Sophia routed through some papers on her table and picked up a small business card. She thrust it into Teyla's hand before ushering her toward the door and letting her out of the apartment.

As the door locked behind her Teyla looked at the card Sophia had given her, it was a business card for a Lantian detective. Looking at her watch she realised she had to meet Laura for lunch in half an hour, she'd have to go and see the Detective afterwards. She made her way out of the apartment and into her car.

- - -

John strode through the corridors of the underground, he had to find a way to get Elizabeth to feed or she was going to be dead by tomorrow morning. He hated himself all the more for turning her.

There was only one way he was going to be able to save her now, there was no way she could go out and feed on a mortal. She was too weak and that was if she even survived until nightfall. He entered the blood bank and opened one of the large fridges where fresh blood was stored in case of emergency.

He picked up one of the blood packs and closed the fridge again walking out and making his way back her room. He knew she wasn't going to like this idea much better than feeding on a mortal, in fact right now it seemed she wanted to die. However once he got there with the blood her vampire instincts would take over and she'd feed.

He stopped outside her room and wondered for a moment if he should do this. He'd turned her into this and this was the way she was choosing to get out of it, was it really fair for him to take this choice away from her, to force her to remain what he had turned her into.

He had to do this, once she got over the shock of what she was she might feel different but she had to be alive to do that. He unlocked the door and walked in closing it behind him as he moved over to where she was lying on the bed. She was so pale now, her skin was clammy and he could tell she only had hours left now. He walked over to the bed noticing that the waitress uniform she'd been wearing when he'd brought her here was next to bed now.

She looked at him as he moved to sit on the bed beside her and helped her to sit up. She was shaking and he felt even more guilty that he had done this to her. "I know you don't want to feed on someone so I brought you an alternative," he informed her pulling out the blood pack, her eyes widened and she shook her head.

"No," she whispered as she tried to back away from him. The smell of the blood was already awakening her untamed vampire instincts and he could see her using whatever strength was left in her to fight them.

"Think about it Elizabeth, do you really want to die?" he asked her, he could tell she was losing the battle, all she needed was a little encouragement. Her vampire teeth grew out against her will and she continued to try and back away from him on the bed. She was too weak to go very far very fast and whatever energy she did have was going to the internal struggle she was having.

"I can't," she stubbornly protested.

"Yes you can, you don't have to kill anyone, it's right here," he said as he reached for her hand and placed the blood pack into it. She continued to look at it, still fighting the instincts that were clearly winning now. He helped her lift her hand toward her face and her teeth sank through the plastic covering.

She'd hate herself for this later but at least now she was going to have a later.

- - -

The Lantian Police station was bigger than she'd thought it would be. Thankfully she'd never had a reason to come here before now. She went up to the reception desk and waited until the young woman had finished on the phone before speaking.

"I'm looking for Detective Lorne," Teyla stated and the woman nodded her head.

"Can I have your name please?" she questioned.

"Teyla Emmagan," she replied and watched as the receptionist made a phone call presumably to Lorne and then called for a nearby security guard to escort her to Detective Lorne.

The officer guided her out of the reception area and to an elevator that took them to the third floor. They entered a large office, desks were spread out across the room at regular intervals as detectives ran around doing their jobs. She was led to one of the many desks and the officer gestured to the chair on one side of it and told her to wait.

As he left another man approached and gave her a small smile of greeting "Miss Emmagan?" he questioned and held out his hand when Teyla nodded. "I'm Detective Lorne."

"Thank you for seeing me," she said as Lorne gestured for her to sit back down and then took his own seat opposite her.

"It's not a problem, what can I help you with?" he asked and she paused for a moment wondering how exactly to say this.

"My friend disappeared a few days ago and I know that it's already being investigated but I've been doing a little digging myself. I spoke to a woman who lives in the apartment next to where Elizabeth's purse was found. She's kinda insane, I think, but she says she saw a man take Elizabeth and then she started spouting a load of nonsense and then gave me your card," Teyla tried to explain making it sound as not ridiculous as she could manage.

"What was the woman's name?" Lorne asked as he opened the draw in his desk.

"I think it was Sophia," Teyla replied and Lorne stopped routing through his draw and looked at her for a moment. He closed his draw and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, quickly writing something down.

"Do you have plans this afternoon?" he questioned and she shook her head as he handed her the paper "Good, thank you for stopping by," he said as he gestured for a guard to come and escort her back to reception.

She went without protest despite the fact that Lorne hadn't actually helped her. The guard left her in reception and she headed for her car. Only once she was sitting in the drivers seat did she look a the now slightly crumpled piece of paper in her hand.

Entrance to the station 6pm 

Teyla sighed as she read the paper, what the hell was she getting herself into exactly?

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**Saphiretwin369 – **It's weird that is really does seem more disgusting to suck blood out of a blood pack than a living person lol. Thank for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **I'm glad you like the struggle Elizabeth and John are having with what happened and what she is now. Teyla's life really does start to get interesting over the next few chapters and this one is really just the beginning of that. Thanks for the review.

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter, there is more Lorne.

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **More about the vampires will be revealed in a few chapters. There's more Lorne in this chapter and sucking blood out of a blood pack does very weirdly seem more disgusting than sucking it out a person lol. Thanks for the review.

**ManicTater – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you're enjoying the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30 – **I'm glad you like Elizabeth and John as vampires, I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Stargatecrazy – **Glad your internet is working again, I can't live without mine lol. I did delay Elizabeth's first human feeding, that's gonna be a hard scene to write but don't worry you will get it. And yes, hottie (Lorne) is in this fic, couldn't leave him out now could I lol? Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 6

Teyla got out of her car and walked toward the entrance to the Police Station, Lorne wasn't there yet but she was a few minutes early. She stood near the wall out of the way of passers by and waited.

"Miss Emmagan," Lorne greeted as he approached her and she offered a forced smile as she returned his greeting.

"Detective."

"Take a walk with me?" he questioned and Teyla only hesitated a moment before nodding her head and walking in the direction he'd gestured. He fell in step beside her and for several minutes they walked in silence until they reached the park. There was hardly anyone around and Teyla felt slightly uncomfortable as they ventured further into the park away from the few people that were there.

They came to bridge that crossed over the river and it was there that Lorne finally stopped and turned to her. "What exactly did Sophia tell you?"

Teyla looked at him a moment trying to judge whether or not she could trust him but at this point, what did she have to lose? She was already stood in the middle of the park with him with no one else around. "She said that the man who attacked her took her life but that she wasn't dead, something about her being a soulless demon."

"Sophia might appear to be insane and admittedly she does have a few screws loose somewhere but she knows what she's talking about, even if no one else does," he told her with a small smile as he rested his arms on the bridges metal railing. "She wouldn't have sent you to me unless she was sure."

"Sure about what?" Teyla asked taking a step closer to him.

"This is gonna be difficult for you to hear and even more difficult for you to believe but it's the truth… Elizabeth was taken by a vampire," Lorne told her simply and she looked at him incredulously.

"A vampire?" she asked to be sure she'd heard him right.

"Yeah," he replied and Teyla opened her mouth to say something but nothing came to mind and she quickly closed it again. "I know it sounds ridiculous but they are as real as you and me."

"So, you're telling me that Elizabeth was taken by a vampire?" Teyla questioned still trying to make sure she understood him correctly.

"From what Sophia has told you I'm guessing she was more than just taken, it sounds like they turned her into one of them," Lorne continued and Teyla decided she'd heard enough, he was as crazy as Sophia, he just hid it better.

"Elizabeth's a vampire… right, okay, well then mystery solved, I'm just gonna go," she said and turned to leave. Lorne made no move to call her back and once she'd made it the first few steps she broke into a run back to the station and her car.

- - -

John entered Elizabeth's room and found her sitting in the corner, on the floor with her legs pulled up to her chest. Her condition had improved immensely, well her physical condition at least, mentally and emotionally was another story. She looked exhausted, though not in the starving herself to death way she had before.

"Elizabeth," he said to try and get her attention.

"I told you to leave me alone, I don't want to see you," she stated angrily but it lacked any kind of force.

"I did what I had to," he told her, he'd known she'd hate him for giving her the blood but at least this way she was alive to hate him. He watched her slowly get to her feet, keeping her back pressed against the wall as if she was trying to keep as much distance between them as possible, as though every millimetre of distance mattered.

"Just go away," she told him but he stood his ground.

"I'm trying to help you," he stated and she finally looked at him for the first time since he'd given her the blood pack. Her green eyes were full of an anger and hatred that she hadn't shown him even when she'd realised what he'd turned her into.

"Don't you think you've helped me enough?" she questioned rhetorically and for a brief moment he felt his own anger get the better of him.

"You would have died," he shouted.

"I wanted to," she replied raising her voice as much as he had.

"No you didn't, if you'd wanted to die not even your vampire instincts would have made you drink that blood," he continued to yell. "I'm only trying to help you."

"You're only trying to help yourself," she shouted back "You feel bad for turning me into this in the first place and you think helping me will make up for it. Well you can go and find some other way to ease your conscience."

Silence filled the room as Elizabeth finished and they both stood there, staring at each other. Without a word John turned and left the room, locking the door behind him and heading toward his own room. He needed to get his thoughts straight and his emotions back under control. He was angry himself and misdirecting that anger at her wasn't going to make the situation any better.

Her words had cut right through him, she was right. He felt guilty over turning her into one of them, he was only so intent on helping her as his way of making it right. He reached his room and walked in all but slamming the door behind him. How did she know? He'd been careful not to show his guilt over what he'd done, had boxed the unwanted feeling away so he wouldn't have to deal with it.

He dropped down on his own bed as he registered his own hunger, his own need to feed. He'd been so preoccupied with getting Elizabeth to feed that he hadn't even thought about his own need. He hadn't fed since Elizabeth and whilst he was fortunate in that he didn't need to feed as often as most, he was going to need to go out in the next few days.

No time like the present, he thought to himself as he stood back up and grabbed his black jacket from over the back of a chair. Maybe the fresh air would help clear his head.

He walked down the hallway and was almost at the stairwell when he found himself wishing he'd stayed in his room. "John," a familiar seductive voice purred and he grimaced before turning around to the young brunette heading in his direction.

"Chaya," he acknowledged as she came to a stop in front of him. "I'm just heading out."

"Surely it can wait a few minutes, it's been days since I've seen you," she told him placing her hand lightly on his arm. "I've been hearing all sorts of rumours, have you turned someone John?"

"That's not really any of your concern," he told her stepping back and pulling his arm away from her hand.

"Oh I'm just curious, you've never turned anybody," she continued in her seductive voice. "It's a woman I hear, they say she's very pretty."

"Do they?" John questioned absently as he tried to figure out how to get out of this conversation without upsetting the daughter of an elder. The last thing he needed to deal with was them and her wrath. "How's your new plaything working out?"

She laughed softly "Which one, my mortal toy or the one I turned?"

"Either?" he questioned hoping to keep the conversation off Elizabeth.

"Well my mortal toy was getting a little annoying with his constant whining so I fed on him and as for Kyle, I got a little bored with him so I sent him on his way. I'm going out to get myself some knew ones later," she told him as she stepped toward him closing the distance he'd managed to subtly create between them. "Of course I can always have someone else bring me a mortal to play with and as for the other post, I could always fill it with someone I'm far less likely to get bored with."

John would have to be an idiot not to understand exactly what she meant by that and of course she'd made it very obvious that she wanted him in her bed years ago. However, other than an initial attraction to her good looks, he had absolutely no interest in her whatsoever, now if only he could tell her that. "I really need to get going," he told her gesturing to the door behind him and she smiled seductively as she turned to leave.

"I'll see you later then," she said as she walked away and John let out a breath of relief before heading through the door to the staircase.

- - -

Teyla crossed the street quickly and walked up the small flight of steps to the doorway. She typed in her pass code and the door lock released allowing her into her apartment building. She made her way up the stairs to her apartment on the fourth floor and was relieved when she closed the door behind her.

After she'd left Lorne in the park she'd headed back to Sophia's apartment but the old woman had refused to open the door and told her to go away. She'd never driven home so fast in her life, she'd been sure someone was watching her though she hadn't seen anyone.

It was already dark outside and she walked over to the window to draw the curtains. There was a man on the street looking directly at her window, her apartment was too high up for her to be able to make out much more than his short blonde hair and pale looking skin. He looked at her for a moment but then a van drove by and he was gone. She stared at the spot he'd been standing before forcing herself to close the curtains. Walking across the room she took off her jacket and dropped onto the couch.

This whole thing was getting out of control, crazy old women, equally as insane detectives and now some guy was hanging around outside her home. The deeper she dug into Elizabeth's disappearance the more she felt like she was getting in way over her head.

"Vampires," Teyla said to herself as though trying to reaffirm how ridiculous that sounded. Maybe this was best left to the cops and she had to be back at work in two days anyway.

If it had been anyone but Elizabeth who had disappeared she would have let that excuse stick. This was Elizabeth though, the closest thing Teyla had to family since her father had died a few years ago and she'd be damned if she was just going to stop looking because she was scared. If their roles were reversed and Teyla was the one missing she knew Elizabeth wouldn't stop until she was found.

Maybe someone else had seen something the night Elizabeth disappeared, someone slightly more sane. Tomorrow she would just have to start back at square one.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**Saphiretwin369 - **We'll learn more about Lorne later on as well as Sophia, I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too.

**Sparklyshimmer2010 - **I'm glad you liked the scene between Teyla and Lorne, more from him later and I don't think Elizabeth loves John just yet lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter. John's just lucky that he doesn't need to feed as often as some do.

**ManicTater -** You'll find out very, very soon who is watching Teyla, I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Stargatecrazy - **Patience Crazy, Ronon is almost here. John did just suck Elizabeth's blood, there's bound to be some arguing lol, sparky is coming though I promise. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 - **Thanks, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30 - **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too.

- - -

Chapter 7

Teyla walked out of her bathroom fully dressed and headed toward the kitchen, she put the bread in the toaster and allowed it to toast as she went through to the living area to find her purse. The blinking red light on the answering machine caught her attention, she hadn't even heard the phone ring.

She was about to press the button to listen to her message when the smell of burning toast reached her and she hurried into the kitchen to rescue her breakfast. She popped it up just in time, parts of it were slightly charred but still perfectly edible. She ate it on the move since she still hadn't found her purse and it would irritate her to no end until she found it. There was no way she'd be able to relax until she had it in her hand.

She was sure she'd left it on the couch when she'd returned home yesterday and she smiled triumphantly when she found it had simply fallen down the side. She put it on the table beside the phone so she wouldn't lose it again.

It was only two days now before she was expected back at work and she was a woman on a mission. Ignoring the crazy woman and the cop she would try and find some slightly more sane people who might have seen something the night Elizabeth had disappeared. It was just her luck that the only witness she'd found before had a few screws loose.

The blinking light on the answering machine caught her attention again and she pressed the button. The computerised voice told her the message had been left in the middle of the night and she was surprised the phone hadn't woken her up, it usually did.

"You've caught their attention, stop looking." 

It was Sophia's creepy, far away voice and Teyla stared at the machine for a long moment before she shook it off. She couldn't let some insane woman stop her from searching for her friend. She was running out of time and she couldn't afford to waste any of it entertaining ridiculous notions.

Spurred on by her own thoughts she grabbed her purse, she had a lot to do today and a lot of people to see.

- - -

Elizabeth hadn't even noticed him entering the room until he was standing behind her. For some reason she felt kinda bad for yelling at him yesterday, she couldn't understand why she felt bad, he'd turned her into a monster and seemed intent on keeping her that way.

"I'm sorry that I forced you to drink the blood," he told her and she could hear the genuine guilt in his voice.

"And I'm sorry I yelled at you," she told him and then internally chastised herself, she was supposed to hate him not apologise to him for something she'd hadn't even been wrong about.

"No, you were right, I was being selfish and you had… have every right to yell at me," he told her and she mentally chastised herself again when she felt even more guilty for yelling at him. What the hell was wrong with her anyway… well other than the obvious being a vampire thing which she hatefully admitted she was beginning to see the advantages of.

She felt stronger than she ever had and had without even realising it, managed to cross the room in half the time it should have taken her. She was stronger and faster and despite the fact that she was technically undead, she felt healthier than she ever had.

At the back of her mind though was the nagging thought that in a few days she was going to need to feed again.

"I understand why you did what you did but it won't happen again," she told him and he nodded seriously.

"You're right it won't, the elders won't allow you to use a blood pack a second time," he told her and somehow the knowledge that there was no way out this time made her pause.

"Good," was all she managed to say, it was for the best, so long as she kept repeating that to herself she might actually manage to die this time. Quiet settled between them as Elizabeth sat down on the large red sofa. "How long have you…?" she started but stopped.

He smiled slightly in amusement as he moved to sit next to her "How long have I what, been a vampire?" he asked and when she nodded her head he continued. "Twelve years and I don't look day older than the day I was turned, one of the perks I suppose."

Elizabeth added it to the list of advantages and resisted the urge to mentally chastise herself again. "How did you…?" she once again began to ask but trailed off and this time John's amused smile was much more obvious.

"Become a vampire, well I know you're story I suppose it's only fair," he stated and Elizabeth smacked his arm, this wasn't funny… really. "I was a security guard, I was on my way home at whatever ridiculous hour it was when I was attacked by three vampires. Apparently I put up quite the fight and they felt it was a waste to just kill me."

"Where are they now?" she asked and he looked at her for a moment.

"They're all dead," he told her matter of factly and she got the distinct impression this was a subject she really ought to drop. "You haven't been out of this room much, come on."

She looked at him warily but realising she really was going nuts being stuck in here all the time she followed him out of the room. He led her down a stone spiral staircase and they emerged in possibly one of the largest rooms she had ever seen in her life. Shelf after shelf was lined up at either side of the room and metal staircases led up to other levels of shelves. Stone artwork decorated the room and stone statues finished the effect.

"Wow," was the only word she could think off.

"I had a feeling you'd like it down here," John told her with a smile "This is the great library, it over a millennia old. The elders aren't even as old as some of the books in here. The entire written history of the world is in here, the living and the dead."

Elizabeth managed to get over her awe enough to speak in coherent sentences "So that's what we are… the dead?"

"No," John told her with a smile "That's just what everyone calls us because it's easy to understand. We're not dead, the dead can't die and we can, some people say we're the living dead but I don't think that's right either."

"Then what are we?" she questioned.

"I don't know," he told her honestly and she nodded her head as she turned her attention back to the library. "It's always quiet, no one ever really comes down here, hence the dust," he stated and she felt kinda relieved at that as she walked between two of the ridiculously large shelves.

- - -

Another day of searching for a witness had left Teyla no closer to finding Elizabeth than she had been when she'd dragged herself out of bed that morning. She'd now been to every apartment building on the street and to every apartment that had a decent view of the street. She'd even been to the take away but they'd politely informed her they'd closed two hours before Elizabeth had disappeared.

Feeling the weight of her failure crashing down on her she left the last apartment building. The last person she'd spoken to had told her they thought they'd seen a man and a woman in the street that night. They'd invited Teyla in and she'd accepted the invitation feeling far less creeped out than she had been with Sophia. The young woman, she'd have been far less likely to accept had it been a man, had told her that she'd seen a young brunette in the street along with a man.

She'd only been glancing out of the window and the man had his arm around her waist. The woman didn't seem to be putting up a fight, she'd thought they were a couple and ignored them. She'd described the man to her as best as she could remember. He'd had short dark hair, he was fairly tall, slightly taller than the woman, that was all she'd seen through the dark. The woman had then preceded to tell Teyla of the other disappearances in the area. Several people had disappeared within a few blocks of that street and none of them had ever been found.

Teyla hadn't even realised how late it had gotten while she had been talking to the woman. She glanced out of the window and noticed how dark it was and only then realised it was going on midnight. After thanking the woman she'd made a hasty exit from the apartment building.

She walked down the steps pulling her coat tighter around herself in an attempt to block out the bitter night air. Her car was still parked down the street and she walked hurriedly toward it. She had a horrible feeling she was being watched and as she passed Sophia's building she looked up to the old woman's window to find no one there. All the same, she couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched and she picked up her pace toward her car.

Catching sight of movement in the corner of her eye Teyla span around to find the source of it but there was no one there. She looked around warily, fearfully but there was no sign of anyone on the street or even in the windows. The take out was still open but it was at the opposite side of the street. She turned back to her car, she was almost there and then she could go home and be sure she was never out in the dark again.

She was only a few steps away when another movement caught her attention and once again when she spun around there was no one there. The street was silent and in an eerie thought Teyla realised that it was only an hour and half earlier than Elizabeth had disappeared from this very street.

She turned back to her car but was startled by the man now standing in front of it blocking her path. He stood rigidly, watching her silently and the feeling creeped her out more than Sophia. Teyla opened her mouth to say something when movement again caught her eye and she turned to see another man walking out from the alley way between two buildings. He was quickly joined by another man on her other side and Teyla realised she was surrounded.

"Little girls shouldn't stick their noses where they don't belong," the man in front of the car said and Teyla held back the scream that she could feel bubbling to the surface.

"What do you want?" she questioned fearfully.

"You should have left well enough alone, now you'll have to pay the price," the man told her and then everything seemed to happen at once. He made a move toward her so fast she hadn't even seen it coming. Before he reached her though he was knocked aside by the form of another man who'd made quick work of stabbing him through the heart with… a wooden stake.

If she'd had a chance to ponder the unusual choice of weapon she might have but the other two had taken the opportunity to grab her. When she looked to the side the scream she had been suppressing finally broke through. His teeth were unusually long in a way she'd only ever seen in movies and clearly they were about to do what you'd expect such teeth to be doing.

He never got the chance though because the new arrival had finished with the first man. He grabbed the second and dragged him off her leaving Teyla free to struggle against the last one. He too had the non human teeth and was ridiculously strong, even her self defence training was struggling to hold him off. They fell to the floor and she tried to scramble away from him but he grabbed her foot and she fell back to the ground. When he tried to pull her toward him she kicked him in the face and used that as her chance to crawl away.

Before he could follow her the other man grabbed him and turned him onto his back. Teyla turned around in time to see him stab him through the heart with the stake.

Still kneeling on the ground her rescuer looked at her through his dreadlocks with piercing green eyes that made her almost as afraid as the others had. He appeared to study her for a moment before he stood up and walked away.

"Wait!" Teyla called as she dragged herself up from the floor but he seemed to disappear into the shadows. Looking around at the three bloody bodies on the floor she tried to calm her ragged breathing. How the hell was she going to explain this one to the cops?

Looking around the street she realised no one had seen their fight or at least it seemed they hadn't. So she wouldn't tell anyone, she'd go home and keep her crazy story to herself. A noise behind her scared her into action and she picked her purse up from where she'd dropped it realising how close it was to where they'd found Elizabeth's and ran to her car.

The second she was in she locked the doors and drove away from the street as fast as she could without crashing and killing herself. She made the drive home in record time and when she parked in her usual spot she made no delay in running to the safety of her apartment. She locked all three of the locks on her door and pressed her back against it, releasing a breath as she tried in vain to calm herself.

Those people had been, they'd been… vampires.

There was no disbelieving it now, she'd seen them herself, they'd tried to kill her and she was sure now they'd been the ones to attack Elizabeth or one of them had at least. She just prayed that they hadn't killed her, though she couldn't really think of another reason they'd take her.

She paced around her apartment with a dizzying mixture of thoughts streaming through her head. She finally managed to put some semblance of messy order to the thoughts and forced herself to sit down.

Vampires, crazy old people, a strange cop and now some mystery guy who saved her life only to walk away without a word. She was in way, way over her head. She had one more day off work so tomorrow she would go and speak to Detective Lorne again, in a much more public setting, in broad daylight, with lots of people around and possibly a gun in her bag. She didn't actually own a gun but the thought was a comforting one at the very least.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**Note to Steph and Crazy: Quit bickering in my reviews or I'll get both of you with sporks lol.**

**Stargatecrazy – **Thanks for the review, there's a little more John and Liz bonding in this chapter and you get to find out for sure who Teyla's rescuer was. I hope you enjoy it!

**Fyd818 – **I'm glad you're enjoying the story and that you liked the fight scene. We get to learn more about Sophia later on as well as some of the other characters. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Saphiretwin369 – **Glad you liked the line about the teeth and I hope you enjoy this chapter, thanks for the review.

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **(tuts at sparkly) you really should have guessed it was Ronon lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, Ronon does kick ass doesn't he.

**Atlantisbabe34 – **Ronon the Vampire Slayer, that would make a good movie wouldn't it lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 8

Teyla could scarcely bring herself to get out of bed, the sunlight glaring through the window informed her the day was passing her by and she forced her body into action. Throwing the covers away from her she dragged herself up and over to the large mirror. Her body ached and she could feel the bruises that had no doubt appeared from last night.

Lifting the hem of her shirt to expose the lower half of her torso she turned to the side to see the blue and purple bruise from where she'd hit the ground. She removed the shirt completely to find a smaller bruise on her rib cage and another on her upper arm from where one of those… guys had grabbed her.

She walked through to the bathroom and removed the lower half of her pyjamas. There was a nasty cut on her knee she'd probably got whilst scrambling across the floor. She turned the shower on and allowed the water to heat up before stepping into it. She didn't take long and within minutes she was wrapping a towel around herself and heading back into the bedroom.

She located some comfortable clothes that would cover all the damage she'd sustained last night and dressed before heading through to the kitchen. She looked at her choice of food but decided against eating and walked into the living area. Dropping down onto the couch she picked up the remote and hesitantly pointed it at the screen. Afraid of what she would see she put it back down again and walked into her bedroom. There was no sense in delaying the inevitable, the sooner she talked to Lorne, the sooner she would have answers.

She located her jacket and her purse and left the apartment; she crossed the street in a hurry and got in her car. The drive to the police station was taking longer than she would have liked due to the ridiculous amount of road works. She was forced to stop the car every ten seconds and wait for several minutes before she was able to drive for another ten seconds. She made a mental note to leave for work early tomorrow otherwise she'd never make it on time.

The nearby news stand and the man attending it seemed to be taunting her. She was hearing no mention of last night's events and while she'd like to avoid the issue she knew she was going to have to face it sooner or later. The traffic moved forward another few meters before she had to stop again and Teyla eyed the news stand before making a decision. She turned off the engine and got out of the car ignoring the shouts form the other drivers as she ran over to the news stand and purchased the daily newspaper.

She wasted no time in getting back into her car just in time to be able to move forward another few meters. She was almost past the road works now so hopefully she'd only be stuck here for a few more minutes.

There was no mention of anything related to last night on the front page which she found rather odd but opened the paper to search anyway. She flicked through the pages scanning the articles but there was nothing. No mention of any fight, no bloody bodies being found in the street, nothing.

Traffic started moving again and Teyla put the paper down in the passenger seat. She finally made it passed the road works and was able to drive the rest of the way to the station relatively unhindered. She parked the car in the station's car park and then walked inside feeling more nervous now that she was here. The receptionist was on a call and after judging that Teyla's visit did not seem urgent she politely held up a hand in a gesture for Teyla to wait a moment.

When she finally hung up she looked at Teyla with a smile "I'm sorry, what can I help you with?"

"I'm here to see Detective Lorne," she stated.

"Name please," she requested as she started pressing buttons on the computer.

"Teyla Emmagan," she replied and watched as the woman entered her name into the computer and gestured for the same officer who had escorted her last time to escort her again. Teyla once again followed him to Lorne's desk to find that like last time the detective wasn't there.

She sat down and waited for several minutes declining several offers of coffee. Lorne finally arrived; he froze when he saw it was her but then quickly recovered. "Follow me," he instructed and Teyla took a deep breath and did so. He led her out of the police station and Teyla waited until they were out of earshot of his colleagues before speaking.

"Somewhere with people this time, no offence," she told him and he gave her a small smile.

"None taken, there's a diner down the road, we can talk there," he replied and she nodded her head in acceptance and allowed him to lead her to the chosen venue. Public places probably weren't the best place to have this type of conversation but at least she'd feel safer.

She needn't have worried though, Lorne it seemed had chosen a diner where there were plenty of people around but they were pretty spread out so their conversation would be a little more private. He sat in a booth near the window and picked up the menu, Teyla still didn't feel much like eating but she selected a small meal from the menu.

The waitress came over, took their orders and then left leaving Teyla with no choice but to start talking. "I believe you," she stated and Lorne nodded.

"You wouldn't have come back if you didn't, so what changed your mind?" he asked.

"I was attacked last night," she told him simply.

"Are you alright?" he questioned and she shrugged.

"I've been better, I got a message from Sophia telling me that I'd caught their attention and should stop looking. I ignored it, I thought you were both insane and I went back to where Elizabeth disappeared and started asking questions. I met this woman who started talking to me about the other disappearances in the area and before I knew it was almost midnight. I was on my way to my car when three of them jumped me," she explained and Lorne shook his head.

"How did you get away?" he asked and she shook her own head this time.

"Some guy, he appeared out of no where and killed them all, then he disappeared again," she replied and he looked at her curiously… knowingly.

"Did this guy happen to have dreadlocks and green eyes?" he questioned and Teyla nodded.

"Yeah, who is he?" she asked.

"His name is Ronon, beyond that I really don't know. He's a kind of like a vampire slayer, he's been killing them for years, you're lucky he was there," he stated.

"What I don't understand," she began "Is how they knew I was there. I went there during the day surely they couldn't have been following me at that time. I mean, I thought vampires couldn't go out during the day."

"They can't," he replied "They have a few humans in there service. In exchange for doing their bidding they're given immunity from feeding. No vampire will be allowed to feed on them so long as they faithfully serve them. When you started getting too close to the truth they probably got one of them to follow you for them during the day."

"So it was them that attacked Elizabeth?" Teyla questioned and Lorne nodded.

"I spoke to Sophia, in her crazy way she said that this guy had fed on her so we need to know exactly how far he went. If he fed on her until she died then he would have hidden her body. It's possible though that he didn't feed on her all the way, in which case she is now one of them," he told her solemnly "Either option isn't good but from what Sophia was saying, it sounds like he might have turned her."

"So even if they didn't kill her, she's as good as dead?" Teyla asked trying to reign in her emotions.

"I didn't say that," Lorne stated and Teyla looked at him.

- - -

John tried to walk faster and get down the corridor unnoticed but it seemed the damn woman had 'John' sensors. He never could get passed her without getting caught.

"Hello Chaya," he said with a smile that he was sure looked more like a grimace but at least he was trying.

"How's your toy doing?" she asked and was that jealousy in her tone? On second thoughts he didn't want to know.

"Elizabeth is not a toy," he told her seriously.

She tried to look amused and he was sure that part of her did find this amusing but the other part of her, which he was fairly sure he could label as jealousy, was showing far more. She flicked her hair back and took a seductive step closer to John "My dear, they're all toys."

"Speaking of which, did you get any new ones?" he asked and she smiled at him.

"I got my new mortal toy, he's tied up in my room but I swear he complains more than the last one," she informed him and he tried to subtly take a step back.

"Well if you tie him up and then cut, torture and taunt him then I suppose complaining should be expected… besides isn't that what you want?" he asked only just managing to keep the disgust out of his voice.

Her seductive smile graced her lips once more as she followed his step and somehow ended up closer than before. "You know it is but I'd really rather he just shut up when I'm trying to sleep or... entertain a guest," she told him and the last part was dripping with so much innuendo that he'd have to be a complete idiot not to understand her meaning.

"Yeah well er… I gotta go… things to do," he told her backing away from her a little and then heading down the corridor.

He was relieved when he rounded the corner out of her sight and let out a breath. He was very proud of the fact that, even during the short phase where he'd been a little too enthusiastic about his vampirism, he'd never been one of her toys and he'd never been in her bed. It seemed that she was intent on getting him there though and there were only so many excuses and so many times he could avoid her. If he upset her she'd go crying to daddy and then he'd be in more trouble than it was worth. The elder would either have him killed or subtly force him to comply with his daughter's every whim, neither scenario was particularly appealing though if he had to choose he would definitely pick the first.

He needed some fresh air but unfortunately the sun was still up and would be for several hours yet. He went to Elizabeth's room but found she wasn't there, he'd left her door unlocked that morning and he really hoped she hadn't made him regret it. There was only one place she was likely to go and he headed to the long spiral staircase that would lead him there.

As expected he found her in the great library, she'd apparently dusted off one of the large arm chairs and was currently sitting with a rather large book resting in her lap.

"What are you reading?" he asked as he approached and smiled as she jumped at the sound of his voice.

"I didn't hear you come in," she stated.

"We vampires tend to be quiet," he told her as he sat down on the other large chair and she rolled her eyes at him. "So what are you reading?"

"I have no idea," she told him with a smile "I think it's some story that was written a few centuries ago but I've never heard of the author."

"There's a lot of stuff in here like that, I've never really looked but one of the guys I used to know came down here a lot," he said as he looked around. "I came down here whenever I was looking for him, I could almost guarantee he was in here."

"What happened to him?" she asked ad he looked down at the floor.

"He died," he replied deciding it would be best not to get into the specifics of that incident. He'd never accepted he was a vampire either and after only a few months the guilt got to him and he refused to feed, his death had not been a pretty one. "He was a good guy though, smart, very smart. You remind me a lot of him," he admitted sadly.

"Is that why you turned me?" she questioned.

"I think that might have been part of it, he was a good friend and he's the only person down here I can say that about," he told her and she nodded her head slowly.

"You know you should read this," she stated changing the conversation for which he was grateful.

"Why, what's it about?" he asked and Elizabeth launched into an explanation of the story. She seemed to be truly enjoying it and the way she explained it made him actually want to read the book, which was a pretty big achievement.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**Authors Note: Sorry for taking so long with this, I lost my internet but I'm back online now. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with the story!**

**Stargatecrazy – **Thank you for the Sparky cake, I've got so many projects going all at once I don't know what I'm doing half the time. I'm a little ahead in this fic now so that should help for a little while. Rodney will be making an appearance very, very soon lol. Thank you for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **John as a vampire is very sexy, I'm glad you're enjoying the story and thanks for the review.

**Atlantisbabe34 – **Ronon the Vampire Slayer lol, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

**Saphiretwin369 – **Lots more Ronon to come in the future, I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **Thanks for the review, I have a thing for green eyed guys too lol and Atlantis does have several. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30 – **Elizabeth and Chaya will meet soon, there's more about vampires in this chapter, hope you enjoy it.

**Jammeke – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you're enjoying my AU's. I do get involved with too many projects at once and I'm not always sure how I manage but hey, I enjoy it. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 9

The corridors were ridiculously clean, not a speck of dirt or dust anywhere. The marble floor was so shiny she could almost see her reflection in it and the white walls were spotless. The dozen or so people that she and Lorne had passed since entering the building were mostly wearing white lab coats which would have given away their purpose had the large sign outside not already done the job.

"Why are we here?" Teyla asked as she and Lorne made their way through the building.

"Sci Lab is the largest government funded lab in Atlantis and due to the fact that it's right next door to Atlantis's largest hospital they have a pretty big bio sciences department. A lot of the hospital's best doctors are able to work and contribute to it," Lorne explained and Teyla looked at him expectantly when his response didn't really answer the question. "There's a couple of people here you should meet."

"Are they sane?" she questioned hoping she wasn't about to meet genius versions of Sophia.

"Well, mostly… one of them is a little arrogant," he told her with a smile as they apparently arrived at their destination.

Lorne pressed the green button on the wall panel and the glass doors parted way for them. They stepped through, the doors closing behind them and sealing them into the small room. Slightly misted air blasted into the room for a few seconds and the sudden action made Teyla jump. A moment later the mist cleared and the second set of glass doors opened giving them access to the room beyond.

It was a lab, that much was obvious and if it was possible the room was cleaner than the corridors had been. A long lab bench stood in the middle of the room with various experiments and odd looking devices sat on top of it. There was also a marble surfaces running around the long wall to her left and the wall opposite. There were a few larger machines on there and several cabinets on the walls above.

Two men were working on something in the centre of the room, some kind of biological experiment. One of them, with short brown hair was adding something into test tubes while another man with longer brown hair and glasses half way down his nose was making notes,

"Doctors," Lorne stated as he took a few steps into the room.

"We'll be right with you Evan," the shorter haired man stated as he concentrated on what he was doing. The solution he was adding things too turned a purple colour and that seemed to have been what they were waiting for. The other man made several notes on his clip board before the two began clearing away their experiment.

"What can we do for you today detective?" the longer haired man asked as he emptied the test tube into the large sink behind them.

"We need to talk about our favourite topic," he told them.

"Of course we do," one of them replied and Lorne gestured to Teyla.

"This is Teyla Emmagan, Teyla this is Dr Carson Beckett and Dr Radek Zelenka," he introduced and Teyla nodded figuring that shaking their hands right now would not be a good idea.

"It's a pleasure to meet you love," Carson said removing his gloves and tossing them in the trash before moving to wash his hands.

"What's this Neanderthal doing in my lab again?" another voice questioned and Teyla turned to see another man entering through a door at the other side of the room.

"Now, now Rodney, play nice," Lorne greeted and then turned back to Carson and Radek. "Teyla's friend was taken; we think it's possible that she was turned. She's kinda new to this and you guys explain this way better than I do."

"Where would we even begin?" Radek asked.

"Let me guess," Rodney began as he stepped forward "You want to save your friend."

"I was hoping to but if she's a vampire doesn't that mean she's lost?" Teyla questioned and Rodney shook his head.

"Vampires aren't what people think they are, they're not dead or undead, they're as alive as you and me. Despite what movies, stories and myths have told you they have a pulse and a reflection, they're not much different to normal people," Rodney explained and Teyla nodded slowly.

"But then what's the whole drinking blood thing?" she asked.

"Vampirism is a disease," Radek stated "Nothing more."

"They have chemicals in their bodies which react with their blood and create other bi products. They need to drink blood in order to so survive, they require the added haemoglobin as well as several other parts of the blood," Rodney continued before Radek took over again.

"This disease has been around for a long time, for centuries, it's passed from one person to another through genetics and through the feeding process, the chemicals pass through the teeth and into the victim's blood stream. If the victim isn't fed on to the point of death, but is fed on long enough for enough of the chemical to enter their system then they become one of them. The fact that they don't age is down to these chemicals and the effects they have on their genetic structure as well as their bodies," Radek explained.

"The vampire teeth which grow when they feed," Rodney said "Is just a step in the diseases evolution which allows them to feed more efficiently."

"What about sunlight and garlic, is that all just myth too?" she questioned and this time it was Carson that shook his head.

"No that's real, the chemicals in their bodies are in all parts of their body, their blood, their organs… and their skin," he began to explain "These chemicals react violently to garlic and UV or sunlight, in essence… it's an allergy."

"So if this is a disease," Teyla began not daring to hope as she spoke. "Then it can be cured right?"

"Possibly… it works in theory but no cure has ever been found," Rodney told her and then gestured to his lab. "We're some of the few 'mortals' as they like to call us, that know about them and fortunately we're in a position to be able to learn more about them. We use this lab for some… unofficial business; we've been trying to find that cure for years."

"The trouble is though," Lorne said from where he had been leaning on the wall behind her. "Even if the cure was found, many of them wouldn't want it… the blood, the thirst and the immortality consume them and they become the monsters that myth tells us they are."

"How close are you to finding a cure?" she asked.

"Well there's no way to know until it works really but we think we might actually be getting close," Radek informed her and she nodded. There was hope at least and it all made more sense to her now, it sounded a lot more plausible.

- - -

Elizabeth looked up at the knock on the door and crossed the room to answer it. She opened it to find John there; he seemed to be giving her much more freedom and privacy over the last couple of days.

"Grab your jacket," he instructed her and she looked at him curiously for a moment before complying.

She grabbed the brown leather jacket from the back of the chair and followed him out of the room. She found it both unsettling and relieving that she didn't feel quite so afraid of the others they passed by.

"Where are we going?" she asked and he only smiled as they entered a large spiral staircase.

"You'll see," he told her and she eyed him warily as he led her up the stairs and was surprised that she wasn't out of breath after the first few minutes. They emerged in a small room, the walls were concrete and as far as she could tell there was no door.

"Erm… where are we?" she asked and he still gave her no response instead grabbing her hand and dragging her over to one of the walls. He pulled her slightly closer to him as he pressed down on the large wall and to her shock the wall spun around depositing them in another small room.

It was identical to the last except that this one had a door on the opposite wall. John didn't say anything as he led her to it and when he opened it, she was surprised to find herself in the Atlantis Subway system. She turned and looked at John in surprise and he just shrugged.

"Figured you could use some fresh air," he told her and Elizabeth wordlessly turned and walked further onto the platform. There were several people around waiting for the train and Elizabeth realised they were the first normal people she'd seen in a week, at least she was fairly sure it was a week.

John moved up beside her and stood there silently for a moment before putting a hand on her back and urging her in the direction of the escalator. She went without protest and hesitated when they approached the exit to the station. She stared toward the exit; she couldn't really see outside so she didn't know if was dark outside or not.

"Relax, sun down was an hour ago, I wouldn't bring you out here if it wasn't," John stated and Elizabeth let go of the ridiculous notion that perhaps they were trying to get rid of her. She continued toward John who opened the door for her and she welcomed the feel of the breeze on her skin. She hadn't realised how much she'd missed these normal little things until now.

The streets were fairly quiet and Elizabeth knew she was just a few blocks from where she worked and all of her friends were probably still there. There was a police car at the end of the street and she realised it would be so easy for her to escape but then she saw no point in it now. She knew what she was now, she accepted it and if she ran all that would happen is John would get arrested and they would both die when the sun came up. Even if she managed to survive the day by staying inside, her hunger would eventually win over and she'd end up feeding on someone, most likely someone she loved.

She noticed John wasn't even looking at her as though he trusted her not to make a run for it. "Where to now?" she asked.

"There's a park this way, it should be relatively empty at this time," he told her and she nodded and followed him down the long road and around the corner. The park he was referring to was halfway down the street and one she had visited several times before. It felt weird to be here, to be in this place that had been part of a life she'd been forced to leave behind, it all seemed so long ago.

John had been right; the park was almost empty, only the occasional person passing by who were more than likely only using the park as a short cut to get somewhere else. Elizabeth moved to sit on the swings in the children's play area. She'd never been in the park at night, it seemed eerier but it was something she was going to have to get used to, she wasn't going to be seeing anything in daylight anymore. John sat on the swing beside her and she pushed herself back, taking her feet off the floor and allowing the swing to move back and forth.

The sky was unusually clear for this time of year, not a single cloud in the sky and she could see the hundreds of stars that would usually have been hidden. She would never have come into this park in the dark before today, even for the sake of a short cut as so many seemed to be doing. People had gone missing from this park at night far too often, it was a wonderful place during the day but night was a different story. A thought struck her and she turned to look at John who seemed to read her mind.

"It's an easy place to grab people without being noticed, some of the lazier vampires will grab whatever young girl happens to be walking through here in the dark," he told her and she closed her eyes as she allowed the swing to come to a stop. "Come on."

Elizabeth followed him out of the park eager to leave before some lazy vampire came along and prayed on some unsuspecting girl right in front of her. She followed him through to the opposite side of the park and watched as several young women who were already drunk whistled and hollered at him. John turned to look at her. "Seriously, it's not even 10 O Clock yet and they're drunk," he said as he rolled his eyes and Elizabeth smiled despite herself, at him and at memories of nights out with Laura and Teyla. They had been few and far between and even on those odd occasions, Teyla and Laura had dragged her out as she stubbornly tried to refuse. She wasted so much time, so many opportunities that she would never get again.

"Where are we going now?" she asked him and he smiled.

"There's a store that stays open until midnight, it sells everything and it has a very nice restaurant. It's one of the only places where we can go and feel a little normal, buy things and have dinner. It's kind of become an unwritten code that no vampire will attack anybody in that store," John explained and Elizabeth looked at him curiously as they walked down the street toward the store she guessed was the one he was talking about.

"You're taking me shopping?" she questioned.

"Well you only have the few things you were given, I thought you might want to buy some things for yourself," he replied "Of course if you don't we can always just…" he continued turning to leave and Elizabeth quickly grabbed his arm to pull him back toward the store.

"No, come on," she said and he faked a sigh and allowed himself to be dragged along.

The store was huge and Elizabeth was surprised she'd never been here before on one of the girl's many shopping sprees. She located the clothes department with ease and moved from clothes rack to clothes rack gathering what she wanted. She went into the changing room leaving John to wonder around aimlessly and came back out with several new outfits that she wanted to buy.

John was stood there with a few bags of his own clearly having done some shopping whilst she'd been trying on clothes. "Buy anything nice?" she asked.

"Just a few bits and pieces that I needed, those what you want?" he questioned gesturing to the clothes draped over arms. He took half of them from her and carried them in his free hand as they moved toward the cashier.

"Out of curiosity, how are we paying for these?" she asked.

"We get to keep whatever we find," he told her "Any money or valuables and if you're lucky, you'll get the pin code for a bank card and have time to empty the account before it gets cut off… that last one doesn't happen very often," he explained and she nodded her head, for some reason the thought didn't disgust her as much as she knew it should.

John paid for her clothes and she grabbed the bags as he gestured to some nearby stairs "Ready for dinner?" he asked and Elizabeth nodded her head. It struck her now that she hadn't actually eaten food for a week.

The restaurant was at the top of the building, both indoors and outdoors on the roof. Elizabeth couldn't help but compare it to Pegasus, it was nice and very classy but it didn't hold a candle to Pegasus, of course her opinion was slightly biased. They picked a table outside and ordered their meals, which felt odd given their current situation but at the same time it felt comfortingly normal. She guessed that was why vampires never attacked it, it was an element of normality they could hang onto, even the ones who relished the life of a vampire.

She recognised the song that was playing as one of her favourites and for a moment she could pretend that everything was normal. She was enjoying tonight far too much and despite the beginning of her vampire thirst beginning to make itself known, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to let herself die anymore.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**Sparklyshimmer2010 – **Yes I can have Lorne, besides we're all in the club now and no he doesn't have green eyes, doesn't make him any less gorgeous though. I'm glad you liked the science bit in the last chapter; I spent ages working on all the science behind the vampires lol. Hope it came out plausible. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked all the science stuff in the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too.

**Jammeke**** – **I'm glad the science bit all sounded logical, I spent forever trying to work all that out. If I had to choose between shopping and the beech, I think I may choose shopping lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**LadyNiko**** – **It was difficult coming up with my own take on the 'curse', I wanted to make sure it all made sense. Thanks for the review; I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Stargatecrazy – **(bows for applause) I spent forever coming up with the science stuff, glad it came out right. Vampire Sparky babies would be very cute lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Saphiretwin369 – **I'm glad you liked the last chapter and Rodney's, Carson's and Zelenka's bit, it took me ages to come up with that lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**ManicTater**** – **I'm glad you liked the last chapter and the introduction of more people, I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

- - -

Chapter 10

Ignoring it seemed to have become the only way she could deal with it. If she thought about it, if she took any time to really ponder it, she was going to lose her resolve. So she kept it at the back of her mind, a dull but growing ache that served as a constant reminder of what she was, what she needed. The time would come where ignoring was no longer and option and it would come soon. She'd been through this once already and she knew that in only a couple of days, if that, the dull ache would turn into an unbearable pain and an exhaustion that would flood through her entire body.

Elizabeth shook her head and forced those thoughts back to the back of her mind. They seemed to keep creeping forward and they gained more ground each time. As her strength left her she struggled to do more and more, so far she was keeping her wavering energy from showing but things as simple as keeping warm suddenly seemed impossible. Grabbing her jacket from the back of the couch she pulled it on and left her room.

John had given her the freedom to do as she wanted when she wanted. It was anther thing that was holding her here, the freedom that had been returned to her was just part of a growing list of reasons she wasn't so sure she was ready to die. However, ready or not, she had to do this, she could not live her life as a monster.

Having no other place to go Elizabeth headed down to the great library. She loved it in here, so much history and so many untold stories all laid out in front of her. It was peaceful, no one but she and John ever came down here. John had taken to lighting the fire in the huge beautiful fire place and the large chairs and couch that surrounded it had been dusted clean.

She curled up on the couch and pulled her most recent book into her lap. She smiled slightly at the sight of the last book she's read, it was currently resting on the armchair John had been sitting in last night. She'd told him about it when she was reading it and he'd started reading it as soon as she'd finished, she didn't think reading was something he did very often.

She must have been there for an hour when she heard the sound of the door opening behind her. She didn't turn around, it could only be John. A minute later he dropped down next to her on the couch with a slight bounce and a heavy sigh.

"Bad morning?" she asked without looking up from her book as she turned the page.

"Yeah," he replied after taking a moment to really consider the question. "Bad is a good word for it."

Elizabeth looked up from her book, taking in his annoyed expression and tense posture. "You wanna talk about it?" she questioned and he sighed again.

"Something's going on, a few vampires have gone missing which isn't all together unusual but the elders have been in chamber more often than usual and a couple of people are acting like they know something the rest of us don't," he explained sounding more worried now than irritated, at least until he spoke a again. "I've had Michael in my face gloating all morning, about what, I have no idea, he wasn't real specific just very gloating."

"Well, judging by how fast word spread about me, you'll probably find out before long," she told him, lightening the mood a little and John smiled. He let out a long deep breath and seemed to finally relax before looking around him.

"Now, where'd I put my book?" he questioned mostly to himself but Elizabeth pointed to it with a smile.

- - -

Returning to work was proving harder than she'd expected it to be. It felt like she was betraying Elizabeth, that somehow by returning to work she was moving on with her life. She knew that wasn't the case, in fact the exact opposite was true, it felt like her search for Elizabeth was only just beginning.

She pulled into the employee car park behind the restaurant and got out of her car. She just stood there for a moment, staring at the building, it seemed like so long ago that she was last here, it seemed like another life. So much had changed since the last time she had come to work. Her closest friend had disappeared, she had discovered an entire world she could never have imagined existed outside of the movies and had been around more crazy people than she cared to think about. Add to that the fact that she now had vampires and their servants hunting her down and she'd say yes, her life had changed.

Teyla braced herself for what promised to be a very not fun seven hours, only with her luck could she have landed the morning shift on her first day back. It was still dark so she quickly pulled her thoughts back together and ran through the restaurants back entrance, was she trying to get the blood drained out of her? If she was then standing outside, alone, in the dark while she had vampires hunting her was a great way to go about it.

As she walked to her locker it was like she had stepped into the wrong restaurant, people who would normally have greeted her with a smile were avoiding so much as making eye contact with her. She reached her locker, opening and tossing in her coat and bag. She took a deep breath to calm herself before she closed it again.

"Teyla," she heard Laura shout and smiled as her friend walked over to her, shooting irritated looks at their colleagues who were staring. "Want me to hurt them?"

Teyla laughed lightly and shook her head "I think they're all just waiting to see if I've had a mental breakdown and if I haven't then will I and when."

"Well it's good to have you back, it hasn't been the same without you," Laura told her with a small smile.

"Or Elizabeth," Teyla added and Laura was silent for a moment before nodding her head.

"Have you heard anything yet, from the police I mean?" she asked and Teyla sighed. She had not told Laura about her own investigation into Elizabeth's disappearance or what it had turned up. The last thing she needed was to get dragged off to the loony bin in a straight jacket and she didn't want Laura getting involved, this was far too dangerous.

"No, I haven't heard anything," she replied, it wasn't a complete lie; she hadn't heard anything from the two detectives that were investigating Elizabeth's case officially. "Come on, we should get to work."

Laura nodded and the two of them walked through to the front of the restaurant. The last few preparations were being made before opening at 7.30, Teyla was about to get stuck in and help when Damien walked into the room and saw her. "Teyla, can I talk to you?"

She followed him to the side of the room, out of earshot of everyone else. "How are you doing?" he asked her and Teyla had a feeling she was going to be hearing that question a lot, she might as well get used to answering it.

"I'm fine, it's hard but I'm fine," she told him as honestly as she could, she was a long way from fine but that wasn't something she could tell her boss.

"Don't push yourself," Damien began "If you want to go home at any point you can and if you need more time..." he told her but Teyla cut him off.

"Damien, I'm fine," she stated. She was glad to have as great a boss as Damien but she didn't want sympathy right now, all she wanted was to get this shift over with.

- - -

John knocked on Elizabeth's door with a little more force than he had intended to. Michael was still taking great pleasure in taunting him about what if it is he was taunting him about. After John had left the library this morning he'd run into Michael several times, on top of that, a brief run in with Chaya had told him she knew something as well. He hated being kept out of the loop and it was really beginning to grate on his nerves now.

He took the time between knocking and Elizabeth calling for him to go in to calm himself down. When he entered the room Elizabeth was sitting at the dresser brushing her hair. She didn't turn around, instead choosing to use the reflection in the mirror to look at him.

"Hey," he greeted as he moved to sit on the couch, grabbing the cushion that had previously occupied the space and holding it beneath his arm.

"Hey," she replied as she watched his movements. He'd come to know her fairly well – which was strange considering it had only been a week since he'd met her – and he could tell just from her voice that something was bothering her. "Did you figure out what Michael was gloating about?" she asked and he shook his head.

"No, but he's still gloating about it, hopefully the idiot will let it slip sooner or later," he told her "Now are you gonna tell me what's up with you?"

She smiled and dropped her head slightly "Just thinking about stuff."

"Like the thirst for blood you're feeling again," he stated and she looked at him, slightly surprised. "You didn't think I'd forgotten or that I wouldn't notice the signs did you?"

She smiled again, it was a sad smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and it told John she was more confused that she realised. "Do you feel guilty?" she asked taking him by surprise and yet, somehow he had expected the question. He looked at her reflection, their eyes meeting as she searched her face for an honest answer.

"Every time," he replied and she sighed turning around in her chair to look at him properly.

"It's just... harder now," she explained "I was so ready to die; at least I thought I was, now I'm not sure."

"I know it's not an easy decision to make, to take someone's life or lose your own but it's one that we all have to make," he told her and Elizabeth looked at the floor. "The guy I used to know, the one that reminded me of you, he starved himself to death."

Elizabeth's head snapped back up "He refused to feed?"

"Yeah, he fed several times, was a vampire for about six months. The guilt just became too much for him and he locked himself in his room. He got weaker and weaker to the point where he was offered a blood pack because he was too week to go out and hunt. He refused it, wouldn't even give himself the luxury of a quick death, he died in a lot of pain," he explained and Elizabeth looked horrified but he knew this was something she needed to know if she was going to ignore the thirst.

"I hate you for doing this to me," she stated quietly and despite himself John was stung by the comment.

"Me too," he replied honestly, he would never understand why he'd done it.

- - -

It was a little after 2 o clock in the afternoon and her first shift was finally over. She'd spent the whole thing trying to ignore the whispers of her colleagues, their staring eyes and repetitive questions. She grabbed her jacket from her locker, putting it on before grabbing her purse.

"What are you planning to do with the rest of your day?" Laura asked as Teyla shut her locker and headed for the exit.

"I have some things to do," she replied.

"Like what?" Laura questioned.

"Just stuff," Teyla replied vaguely as the two of them walked through the employees exit. She immediately spotted the car next to hers and the man leaning on it.

"Miss Emmagan," he greeted.

"Detective Lorne," she acknowledged before turning to Laura. "I gotta go, I'll see you tomorrow," she told her and tried to ignore the look of concern on her friend's face, she didn't need that right now.

Lorne glanced warily at Laura who had not yet left. "Got someone else for you to meet," he told Teyla who nodded.

"Do I have time to change?" she asked fishing her keys out of her bag.

"Plenty, the meeting's not for a few hours," he replied as she pulled open her car door. "I'll follow you," he told her as he got in his own car.

When she pulled up outside her apartment building she waited for Lorne to find a parking space further down the street. They went inside the apartment and Teyla hesitated only for a moment before letting him in, she had after all only known him for a few days.

"Make yourself comfortable, I shouldn't be long," she told him and hurried through to the bedroom.

"Dress warm," Lorne called behind her. She closed the door, pulling some dark trousers and a polo neck jumper out of her wardrobe and changing into them. She walked back out of her room to find Lorne sitting on the couch flicking through television channels. "Day time TV sucks," he stated when he saw her.

"Who are we meeting?" she asked him curiously.

"A contact of mine, he's a vampire," he replied and Teyla froze, she wasn't haven't the greatest of luck with vampires and he wanted to take her to meet one. "Relax; he's been feeding me information for over a year now."

"Why would he do that?" she questioned sitting in the armchair.

"Because his sister did the same thing that you're doing when he disappeared, she tried to find him and ended up on the vampire's hit list. I've had her relocated, she has a fake name and a whole new life," he told her "I keep him updated on how she's doing, he gives me information when I need it, the only thing he won't tell me is where the vampire home is."

"And you want to ask him about Elizabeth?" Teyla questioned and Lorne nodded.

"At this point we can't even be sure she's alive, this way we can find out," he stated.

"So we won't be meeting him until after dark then," she said more to herself than to him. She really didn't like going out in the dark at the moment but she figured if she wanted to keep looking for Elizabeth, she was going to have to get used it.

- - -

It was cold and dark and Teyla wanted nothing more than to go home, back to the relative safety of her apartment. She got out of Lorne's car and followed him to the abandoned warehouse their meeting was going to take place in. It made this whole thing so much creepier, the door creaked as they opened it in the otherwise silent building.

"Guess he's not here yet," Lorne stated and she looked at him, trying and failing to keep her fear out of her eyes. He had a wooden stake tucked into the waist band of his trousers and he'd given her one as well, she too had tucked it into hr trousers, allowing her coat to cover it. The quiet sound of footsteps caught their attention and Teyla turned to see the man she guessed was the informant. He looked normal, like anyone she might see in the street during the day, there was absolutely nothing about him that screamed vampire and she found that rather unsettling.

"Laden," Lorne greeted as Teyla stepped closer to him.

"Detective," the brown haired vampire acknowledged. "My sister?" he asked immediately.

"She's getting married," Lorne told him "To the doctor I told you about, they're thinking about setting the date some time next month."

"Married," Laden whispered to himself "I wish I could be there to see that."

"I'm sure you do, now for my information," Lorne said, getting to the point, the less time they were in this building the better. "We're trying to find out about a woman who was recently attacked, we need to know if she was turned or killed. Her name was Elizabeth Weir, she was attacked about..." Lorne began but stopped abruptly, his eyes darting immediately tot he side.

Teyla followed his gaze and felt every muscle in her body tense up when she saw the man walking out of the darkness. He looked at them both, a hunger in his dark eyes that Teyla had seen only once before, on the face of the vampires who attacked her in the street a few nights ago. A quick glance at where their informant had been standing told her that he'd already made a run for it and was probably long gone now.

"I think you may be getting in over your head detective Lorne," the man stated as he walked toward them. Lorne immediately put himself in between the vampire and Teyla, until another emerged from the shadows on their opposite side. Two more appeared behind them and another two walked through the door they had used earlier, they were surrounded and severely outnumbered.

Lorne grabbed the wooden stake from behind him and Teyla mimicked his actions, holding the piece of wood tightly and praying she'd be able to use it. She felt her heart pounding in her chest, her breathing was so fast she thought she might pass out and she was shaking. One of them lunged for her but Lorne cut him off, tackling him to the ground. As another vampire jumped into the fray, Teyla found herself being grabbed from the side.

She tried to pull herself away but his grip on her arm tightened, unfortunately her stake was in the hand that was currently immobile. She brought her other hand up and it connected with his face, knocking him back and loosening his grip on her enough for her to pull away. Unfortunately she moved straight into another vampire who grabbed both of her arms, holding her in place as he bared his long vampire teeth.

She struggled violently against him, used every ounce of strength she had to pull away and somehow she managed to get her hand free. She lifted it, brining the stake down into his chest and washing as surprise and fear flickered over the vampires face. He let go of her, falling to the ground and she didn't need to check if he was dead or now. Turning around two other vampires, including the one whose nose she had most probably broken moved in on her. Before they could reach her one of them was pulled away, he was slammed into the ground and the man who had saved her the other night loomed over him, stabbing his chest with a wooden stake identical to the one still in her hand.

He moved his attention to the second vampire and Teyla turned to where Lorne was still struggling on the ground. One vampire had him pinned down and another was closing in on him, Teyla ran towards them, stabbing the stake into a vampire's back where she knew his heart should be. He threw his arm back, knocking her away from him and she hit the floor with a thud. The vampire reached for the stake still stuck into him and Lorne was able to kick him off. He tried to struggle free from the vampire that was holding him down as the other one finally succumbed to death. Lorne reached his arm to the side where his stake was laid on the ground, having been lost in the struggle. His fingers wrapped around it, pulling it closer to him to get a stronger grip and he hit the vampire in the shoulder with it. It didn't kill him but it slackened his hold on him enough for Lorne to turn around and hit him in the chest.

The final vampire died and Lorne jumped to is feat, walking over to Teyla and helping her up from the floor. They both turned to look at the final man in the room "You must be the vampire slayer, never thought I'd actually end up meeting you," Lorne stated as the two men sized each other up.

"That's the second time you've saved my life, thank you," Teyla said quietly and Ronon turned his eyes on her.

"Stop getting in trouble and I won't have to keep saving you," he told her and she had the distinct impression it was more of an order than a suggestion.

"Wish it were that easy, mate," Lorne commented.

"If you don't want to end up dead then I suggest you find a way to make it easy," he said a note of irritation in his voice as he turned to leave.

"I think we should follow his lead and leave," Lorne suggested as they left the mess of bodies behind and headed for the car. Lorne drove her home, waiting outside until he saw her enter the building safely before he drove away. Teyla all but ran into her apartment, locking the door and drawing all the curtains. She went into the bathroom and turned the shower on allowing the water enough time to heat up as she sat on the floor and pulled her knees up to her chest.

"God Elizabeth," she whispered quietly "I'm gonna get myself killed looking for you."

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

**Authors Note: Sorry for the wait for this chapter, I was actually putting it off, mild scenes of feeding in this chapter. **

**Stargatecrazy – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked Laden and his sister being thrown in, I debated for a while whether I was going to use them. Elizabeth isn't quite in love with John yet and Teyla really should be more careful. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jammeke – **I'm glad you liked the library scene and Ronon the vampire slayer just seemed natural to me lol. The guilt scene between John and Liz was my favourite part of the last chapter to write so I'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks for the review. 

**Saphire – **The fight scene was fun to write and I'm glad you enjoyed, hopefully I'll be able to write more Ronon soon, I really don't have much of this story planned lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparkly – **I'm glad you liked the little appearance by Laden and his sister; I wasn't sure about adding them in. Ronon was kinda rude, he should be making more appearances over the next few chapters, I hope you enjoy this one and thanks for the review. 

**Steph** – Ronon should be appearing more in the next few chapters, thanks for the review. 

- - -

Chapter 11

It felt strange to be doing something as normal as sitting outside a cafe in the middle of the afternoon. Her life had become a playground for the bizarre and she'd spent far too much time with people that seemed like characters straight out of a movie. The crazy old woman, the detective who'd gotten himself into something most people in his profession would never know about, the strange man that kept saving her life only to disappear and then of course there were the gangs of vampires that were hunting her down. She was living a horror movie and while all this was going on she was sat eating a late lunch outside a cafe, it sounded even crazier when she factored in the vampire's servants that were probably around here somewhere, watching her. 

"Hello," a voice called to her through her thoughts as the owner waved a hand around in front of her face.

"I'm sorry Laura, what were you saying?" she questioned realising that she hadn't heard a single word of what her friend had said.

"Nothing important," Laura told her concern lacing her tone "What's going on?"

"Nothing, I just have a lot on my mind," Teyla sated.

"Come on Teyla, I'm not stupid and I've known you for years, I know something's going on," Laura tried to argue but Teyla wasn't about to tell her anything. She'd gotten herself into this by looking for Elizabeth when any sane person would have just let the police do their job, there was no way she was risking Laura's life by dragging her into this as well.

"The police called me this morning," she informed her instead, hoping that she could deflect her attention onto something else. 

"What did they say?"

"They have a few leads that they're following up but they're investigation is still on going," she replied, she wasn't entirely sure they really did have any leads but she couldn't exactly accuse them of lying. 

"That was it?" Laura questioned in both disappointment and annoyance.

"Well they said it in a lot more words but basically, yeah that was it," Teyla said with a sigh, she hated keeping the truth from Laura. She hated not telling her that she knew a lot more about Elizabeth's disappearance than she was letting on. She was saved from any further questioning by her cell phone and she quickly picked it up and answered it. 

"Hello," she answered.

"Teyla, this is Detective Lorne," she heard the familiar voice inform her and she glanced briefly at Laura who'd gone back to eating her lunch. 

"What can I do for you?" she questioned and Lorne seemed to pick up the 'I can't really talk tone' in her voice.

"I can set up another meeting with the contact tonight, you don't have to come I can do this on my own but I thought you'd want to know," he told her.

"No," she answered quickly "I'll come with you."

She now noticed Laura was once again looking at her, listening to her conversation with that look of worry and concern on her face and Teyla tried to ignore it. 

"Alright, I won't be able to pick you up until eight," he told her "I'm working a case at the moment and I won't be able to get away early again."

"That's fine, I'll see you then," she replied and hung up, placing the phone on the table and pretending not to notice the look Laura was giving her. 

- - -

The pain was getting to the point where it was unbearable now, it hurt just to breathe and she wondered if maybe she should just opt for a quick death. She was cold; her skin was pale and just walking to the other side of the room felt like a marathon. This was death, she could feel it flooding every part of her body, every part of her soul and it made her second guess this decision. 

She looked at the clock, it would be dark outside soon and she knew what she wanted to do. She wasn't going to starve to death; she wasn't going to die slowly like John's friend had. It took a lot of effort to drag herself off the floor and somehow she managed to make it out of her bedroom. She walked down the corridor, unsure how she was able to walk as though nothing was wrong with her.

Instead of the person she was looking for she found Michael, he had a ridiculously smug grin on his face and she was overcome by the uncharacteristic urge to hit him. "Well hello Elizabeth," he greeted smoothly. "I have to tell you, you're not looking so good."

"Really?" she questioned "I feel fine."

"Well that's good to know, how are you and John getting along?" he asked cockily and the urge to hit him was getting stronger, unfortunately so was the urge to just collapse. 

"We're getting along fine," she lied; it wasn't as though they spent everyday arguing, fighting and trading glares but he had turned her into this.

"How nice, I'm glad to see the fact that he stole your life from you hasn't impacted your opinion of him," he stated and by this point Elizabeth was really beginning to feel the consequences of her exertion; she didn't have the energy for this in fact she really needed to sit down. Fortunately for her John came down the corridor at that moment. 

"Get out of here Michael," he ordered as he approached and Michael turned to him defiantly. 

"You don't own the corridor," he said as he continued to stand there. 

"I'll rephrase, get out of here Michael or I'll wipe that smug grin on your face," John told him and Michael seemed to have some inner battle with himself before he left. John looked at her in concern and he held his arm out to steady her.

"I'd ask if you're alright but the question would be rather pointless," he said quietly.

"I was looking for you, I want you to take me outside," she informed him "It should be dark soon right?"

"Yeah," he replied after a moment. "I'll just go get my jacket and then we can head up," he told and she nodded her head as they walked down the corridor. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Yeah, besides, I'll never get another chance," she stated and she could see him flinch at her words.

- - -

Once again Teyla found herself standing in an old abandoned building, though this one was a little less creepy than the creaky old warehouse had been. She was fairly sure it had been an office building at some point, there were a few desks and chairs scattered around the place. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust and she almost wanted to scream and run away when she saw several rats running around. Life sucking vampires, she could stand her ground fight but rats she wanted to scream and run away from? It was that thought alone that kept her in the building though she did walk closer to Lorne. 

"He should be here by now," Lorne stated.

"We were a little late, maybe he already left," Teyla suggested, warily watching a rat that was edging just a little to close to them. Lorne looked at her and followed her gaze, he picked up what looked 

like it had once been a paper weight and through it at the rat. It landed nearby with a thud and the rat ran away. 

"We were only a few minutes late, he would have waited," Lorne said as they continued to look around the building for their missing informant. 

"Why do you always have to have these meetings in dusty, creepy, old abandoned buildings?" Teyla questioned and Lorne chuckled.

"Kinda like a bad movie isn't it?" he replied "We can't exactly meet him in a public place, it would be too easy for the wrong people to see us."

"Okay, I get that but why can't we meet him somewhere a little less dusty and a little less creepy?" she asked and he shrugged.

They both froze when they heard coughing coming from somewhere nearby and they followed the sound to a small room that had probably been an office. It was more of a mess than the rest of the building; it looked like there had been a fight in here. Another cough led them to the overturned desk and their informant.

Laden was laid on the floor with a wooden stake sticking out of his chest and a pool of blood beneath him. Lorne pushed a chair out of his way and knelt down beside him. "What happened?" he asked.

"Vampires, they must... have followed me here," he choked out "I think they thought... I was dead... otherwise they wouldn't have... left."

"Should I call an ambulance?" Teyla questioned not knowing what to do.

"Don't bother," Laden replied and then looked at Lorne gripping his jacket "The woman, Elizabeth Weir... she was turned... she's a vampire... she was turned... turned by J... Jo," he tried to tell them but never finished the sentence. He let out a final breath and his body went slack, his arms falling to the floor and his eyes staring vacantly at the ceiling.

Lorne reached out a hand to close Laden's eyes and took a moment to grieve, the man may have been a vampire but he was still an informant. He'd died because he was feeding information to Lorne and that was never an easy thing to handle, he'd seen good detectives destroyed by it. Then of course he was going to have to tell his sister that her brother had been killed. 

That brief moment was all he allowed himself, he knew there was a good chance the vampires who'd done this were still around and as long as they stayed there, he and Teyla were in danger. "We have to go, come on," he told her and the two of them quickly made their way out of the building. They didn't talk until they were in his car and a good distance away from the old building.

"At least we know she's alive now," Teyla stated quietly.

"Yeah," he replied "Listen Teyla, just because we know she's alive doesn't mean you're going t get her back. I know that sounds harsh but you need to know this, she's a vampire and Rodney and the 

others may be working on a cure but that doesn't mean they're going to find one or that Elizabeth would want to take it."

"Are you saying that Elizabeth would want to stay that way?" she asked him angrily. "She wouldn't, you don't know her."

"And you don't know that world," Lorne cut in. "Most of them don't want to be that way when they're first turned, they're normal people just like me and you, just like Elizabeth was. The blood, the increased strength and speed, the immortality, it consumes them and destroys the people they were before."

Teyla looked at him, the tone of his voice, the look on his face; it all told her there was something he wasn't telling her. All of this, everything he knew, it wasn't coming from outside experience; he'd lost someone to them. "Who was it?" she asked him and he seemed to understand what she meant. 

"My partner, he got turned into one of them, that's how I got dragged into this world. That life destroyed everything that he was, I tried to save him, just like you're trying to save Elizabeth and he tried to kill me, in the end... I had to kill him," he told her.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly and the rest of the drive was made in silence. 

- - -

Despite the fact that she was colder out here than she had been inside, Elizabeth relished the feeling of being outside. It was probably close to midnight and she knew the sun wouldn't be up for a long time so she simply enjoyed what time she had left. She hadn't told John yet but she wouldn't be going back with him, she was going to stay out here and let the sun bring everything to an end. 

They walked down the street in silence; somehow she was managing to walk without help, without even stumbling. "It's unusually quiet out here," John commented and as Elizabeth looked around she realised he was right, there were maybe two or three other people on a street that should have been relatively busy even for the middle of the night. There were several night clubs around the corner and this area was usually full of drunks and young people looking for a good time. A young woman came around the corner being followed by two men and John rolled his eyes.

"For crying out loud, I'll be right back," he told her and she watched as he went after them. She just couldn't figure him out, he fed on people, he'd fed on her but was about to save a young woman from being attacked in the street by what was probably two drunk college kids. 

She continued walking knowing he'd catch up and she turned a corner onto an almost completely empty street. There was only her and the middle aged man walking toward her; it occurred to her only then that this was also the area of Atlantis with the highest crime rate. 

"Hello sweetheart," the man said as he looked her up and down, he probably figured she wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight. 

"I don't want any trouble," she tried to tell him but his mind was already made up and he grabbed her. She moved almost on auto pilot, twisting his arm off and away from her with strength she didn't know she had. He pulled out a knife with his free hand and struck out at her but she grabbed his 

wrist and somehow wrestled the knife from him. The smell of blood filled the air and she realised she'd cut him slightly but it was enough.

Her untamed vampire instincts had already taken over and the smell of blood coupled with the desperate thirst she was feeling sent her over the edge. Her vampire teeth came out and the man looked at her, frozen still in terror and she used that, knocking him to his knees and leaning down to sink her teeth into his neck. At the first taste of blood the little voice on her head screaming that this was wrong was silenced and she fed, fed until she felt the life leave his body. She vaguely registered a voice calling to her and she dropped the body to the floor.

John dropped to his knees beside her, he had no idea what had happened or why Elizabeth had just done what she'd sworn not to but he knew he needed to get them out of there. They were in the middle of the street and it was never wise to linger long after a feeding.

"Elizabeth," he tried to get her attention but when she looked at him there was no focus in her eyes. He sighed and grabbed the body, dragging it into a nearby bush, he'd have to come back for it later and hope nobody happened to stumble across it. The elders didn't take too kindly to people not cleaning up their mess; they hated anyone leaving behind any sign of their world.

"Come on," he said as he grabbed both her arms and pulled her up from where she was still kneeling on the floor. He kept hold of one of her arms as they made their way back to the subway station, when they finally made it back, John ignored the curious gazes of the other vampires as he dragged Elizabeth through the corridors to her room. Once they were inside he let go of her arm and she moved on her own to sit on the bed.

"What have I done?" she whispered quietly and John wished he could do more for her in that moment but every second that ticked by was a second that body could be discovered. 

"Elizabeth," he said as he sat down in front of her and urged her to look at him. "I have to go and move that body but I'm gonna come straight back here. Don't leave this room okay, stay here until I get back," he instructed her, emphasising every word in the hope that it would get through to her and when she didn't immediately respond he reached out and touched her hand. She flinched away from the contact and he sighed. "Elizabeth, stay here," he told her again and then reluctantly left the room. 

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

**Saphire – **Thanks for the review, I figured I needed to find a way to explain Lorne's heavy involvement in the vampire world. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparkly – **Elizabeth's first feeding is going to be both a good and bad thing I think, in my weird twisted sort of way. I'm glad you liked the bit with Michael and thanks for the review.

**Fyd818 – **Yes I know what you mean and I'm glad you enjoyed catching up on the fic; I've missed your reviews lol. In my twisted sort of way I think Elizabeth's feeding will be both a good and bad thing. That's really weird that we both thought of Teyla being afraid of mice lol and I love Lorne too. More Ronon in this chapter so I hope you enjoy that, thanks for the review.

**Steph – **It's always great seeing Elizabeth kick some but, I don't think the show made enough of her so AU's are the perfect place to explore that lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**LadyNiko – **Thanks for the review, there's a little bit about Laden's death in this chapter and I'm glad you're enjoying all the twists, hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Stargatecrazy – **You're right it's not Elizabeth's fault but I think we all know she won't see it that way lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 12

John had returned from dumping the body in a nearby river to find Elizabeth exactly where he had left her. In fact it hadn't looked like she'd moved a muscle in the entire time he'd been gone. Her face had been pale and her eyes had been completely vacant, it was as though Elizabeth wasn't in there anymore. She hadn't said a word to him, he'd tried talking to her but his efforts had been met by silence.

He'd been forced to leave her knowing that sooner or later she'd probably fall into guilt ridden sleep. His own sleep had now been much better; he'd spent most of the night staring at the ceiling getting more and more frustrated with his lack of sleep as the hours ticked by. He'd drifted off a few times but what little sleep he'd gotten had not been restful.

Morning had finally arrived and he'd given up on any idea of sleeping and got out of bed. He'd taken his time in the shower, he wasn't sure what state he'd find Elizabeth in and he wasn't sure he was ready to find out. None the less when he was finally ready he went to her room, she was sleeping, curled up in a ball on her bed. There was still a damp path on the pillow from where she had obviously cried herself to sleep and her face held none of the peacefulness people usually had when sleeping.

He didn't have the heart to wake her, knowing he would take her from her nightmare filled sleep to the torture of reality though he knew she was going to have to face it sooner or later. Deciding to let her sleep for as long as her tortured mind would allow, he knelt down beside her brushing her hair out of her face. Despite the fact the fact that vampires didn't age she looked older now than she had when he'd brought her here, less naive and innocent. She was still beautiful though, the same as when he'd first seen her on the street that night.

He stood up and walked across the room, her waitress uniform and the coat she'd been wearing when he'd turned her were neatly folded in the corner. They'd been there since her arrival, a constant reminder of the life she'd left behind, the life he'd taken from her. Once again he felt a wave of guilt so strong it made him nauseous, he'd been the one to do this to her, he'd been the one to cause all of this.

The sound of movement behind him caught his attention and he turned to see Elizabeth waking up. She opened her eyes as he made his way back to her and she looked at him, sadness in her eyes that he hadn't even seen when she'd discovered what she was. "That wasn't a nightmare was it?" she questioned and John sorrowfully shook his head as she sat up. "I killed that man," she whispered.

"What happened?" he managed to ask after several moments' silence.

Elizabeth looked at him, he didn't want to make her relive it but he needed to know and he knew that she was going to have to relive it a thousand times. The memory would eat away at her until it faded into the background.

"He tried to grab me, he had a knife and we struggled and he must have gotten cut, when I smelt the blood..." she trailed off, guilt and sadness so thick in her voice that John struggled to hold it out of his own.

"Your vampire instincts were already in control when you smelt the blood, you're new at this, there was no way you could have stopped yourself," he tried to tell her though he knew it wouldn't help much.

"I should have tried harder, part of me knew what I was doing but too much of me didn't care," she argued getting out of the bed and walking to the other side of the room. "I'm a monster, a killer, just like the rest of you."

Though he knew she'd only said the words because she was angry, he also knew that she meant them, that some part of her must already have been thinking them. "We're not all monsters Elizabeth, things kill other things, that's life and the sooner you learn to accept that the better off you'll be. Life isn't black and white; in fact most of it's grey, including this."

He left the room then, needing to clear his head and leave her some time to do the same. As if he wasn't having enough problems today, Chaya and Michael walked down the corridor in front of him. Chaya smiled her usual seductive smile which John ignored in favour of Michael's smug one. "You look like hell," Michael stated.

"And yet I still look better than you, what do you want?" he questioned and anger flashed through Michaels eyes at the off hand comeback.

"We just came from the elder's chambers," Chaya told him "Daddy and the others were just keeping us up to date on what's going on."

John groaned inwardly, they were back to this then were they? With the mood he was in right now he was likely to beat what was going on out of them.

"Careful Chaya," Michael began in his annoyingly smug voice "John here hasn't been informed about it."

"Really?" Chaya questioned in surprise "I would have thought you'd have been told, given that it's about your little toy."

"What?" John asked, his voice a mixture of anger and annoyance, this was the last thing he needed right now.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to tell you," Chaya stated thoughtfully and John took only a second to enjoy the disappointed look on Michael's face. "One of your new toy's friends is looking for her, she's gotten too close to the truth and the council have deemed her a threat to our secrecy, she's been added to the hit list, pretty high up there too."

Outwardly, John didn't react at all, just excused himself and walked away. Inwardly was a completely different story, he felt like screaming, this day was just getting better and better. Whilst Elizabeth was dealing with the guilt of her first kill he was going to have to go and tell her that one of her friends was on the elder's hit list.

* * *

Finally finishing another shift at Pegasus Teyla left the building and headed for her car. She hated how much life seemed to have moved on, Elizabeth was still missing but the world continued without her. Everyone was getting used to the fact that Elizabeth was gone, even Laura seemed to be coming to terms with it now.

Teyla however was the exact opposite, she knew Elizabeth was alive, that she was still out there somewhere and she felt more determined than ever to find her friend. Elizabeth was the closest thing to family Teyla had since her father had died two years ago and she wasn't prepared to let that go just yet. She got into her car and left the parking lot, she still had a few hours before it got dark and she had shopping to do, her mind had been all over the place and she'd been too busy to do it for over a week so now she was left with nothing but scraps of food in the house.

She pulled into the parking lot outside the supermarket and grabbed a shopping cart from outside the store. She went inside, walking up and down the aisles, grabbing whatever she needed and tossing it untidily into the trolley. There was a woman who seemed to follow her up and down each aisle but Teyla ignored her, not everyone was a vampire servant out to get her.

She paid for her things and left, unpacking the flimsy brown bags into the trunk of her car and taking the shopping cart back to the store's entrance. It felt like she was being watched and looking around Teyla could see several possible culprits. There was the woman from the store, slowly unloading her bags into her own car. A man standing near the entrance, leaning against the wall and looking intently at the floor. Another man was leaning on a car not far from her, the hood of his dark green coat was up and it casted shadows across his face preventing her from seeing the direction of his gaze. There was a man and a woman stood nearby, talking quietly, every now and again one of them would glance her way.

Teyla picked up her pace back to her car and got into the driver's seat, starting her engine and leaning her head on the wheel. "Get a grip Teyla," she instructed herself, it was possible that none of them were vampire servants and that no one was watching her at that moment. She was just being paranoid, she'd been doing it all day, Laden's death last night had for some reason put her on alert and she was looking at everyone suspiciously.

She sat herself up straight and backed the car out of the parking space, making her way out of the parking lot and deciding to pick up some food on the way home. She didn't like cooking under normal circumstances and today she had neither the patience nor the will to try.

* * *

Elizabeth sat at her dressing table, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She looked a lot healthier than she had yesterday, no longer pale and clammy thanks to the blood she'd taken from that man, the life she'd taken. Judging from the times between her first two feedings, it was going to be another four or five days before she needed to feed again and she had no idea what she was going to do.

Did she want to live beyond those four or five days, did she want to live until then?

That man's face, the look of pure terror when he'd realised his mistake was burnt into her memory, she couldn't seem to shake it out. She wasn't sure how long she could live with the guilt of knowing she'd taken his life, taken someone's son, maybe someone's brother or even worse someone's father. He'd had a life, maybe he wasn't necessarily a nice man, he'd attacked her in the street thinking that she was some poor defenceless woman who wouldn't put up a fight but he didn't deserve that. Thinking about it, John was no different to him, he attacked people once or twice a week, took their lives from them, he'd taken hers. He'd done exactly what that man had done last night even if his intentions had been different.

It had taken her half an hour of brushing her teeth before she'd been satisfied that the taste of blood was gone from her mouth. She didn't need the reminder, nor did she need the vampire in her enjoying the after taste of her actions.

There was knocking on the door behind her and she ignored it, she knew it would be John, he was the only person that ever came here, a fact she was grateful for. She hadn't met many of the other vampires but so far she didn't really like any of them. Another knock and she called for him to come in, he wasn't the type to just give up and walk away and she wondered briefly how she knew that when she'd only known the man for just over a week.

The door opened and as expected John walked in, he looked more troubled than she did at that moment which she figured was quite and achievement. He sat down with a heavy sigh and she turned and looked at him expectantly.

"I have to tell you something," he told her, the tone of his voice doing nothing to alleviate her worry. "I've been wondering around for the last few hours trying to figure out an easy way to tell you this but I can't come up with anything so I'm just going to tell you. Michael and Chaya, well mostly just Chaya told me what's been going on, what Michael's been gloating about knowing that I didn't and I did some digging so I could find out more and..."

"John, you're babbling," she told him, somehow keeping her worry out her voice and guilt at the back of her mind.

"Your friend, Teyla Emmagan, she's been looking for you and she's found out about this world. She's still looking and she keeps learning more. The Elders have declared her a threat and put her on the vampire hit list and from what I've heard she's pretty high up on it too," John told her and Elizabeth froze completely. Her mind was blank for several seconds before a yet another wave of guilt and various other emotions washed over her.

She hadn't even heard Teyla's name in over a week and today of all days she has to find out that her friend, the closest thing she had to family, is on a hit list all because she was looking for her. "She knows I'm a vampire?" Elizabeth asked, she'd kind of hoped that no one she'd known would ever have to find that out.

"Yeah, she's been working with a police detective, he's a known pain in the ass but since he's a cop the council won't have him killed unless they have to. Police take care of their own, if a cop gets killed the investigation could lead them straight to us and the last thing the elders want is exposure. Apparently the detective had a vampire informant, we don't know how much he told them before the hit squad got to him," John explained sounding a little calmer now that he'd gotten the worst part of what he had to say out of the way.

"Have they actually tried to kill her yet?" she questioned and John nodded.

"A few times," he replied "We've actually lost quite a few vampires trying to get her."

The room fell silent again as Elizabeth took in what he'd said, staying here, staying away from everything she'd cared about in her old life was supposed to leave Teyla and the others protected from this world. Now this world was going after them, where was the fairness in that, in any of this?

"I'm sorry I called you a monster earlier," she stated which seemed to surprise John. She really was sorry, for some unfathomable reason, she actually liked John despite the fact that he'd turned her into this thing.

* * *

It was dark outside and Teyla went to close the curtains, out of the corner of her eye she though she saw man standing outside but when she looked there was no one there. She closed the curtains and went to pick up the ringing phone.

"Hello," she answered.

"It's Lorne, I just got a call from Carson, he says he and the others have something interesting to tell us. If you're not busy we can go tomorrow," he told her and despite herself she felt a spark of hope.

"I'm working tomorrow until four," she told him.

"I'll meet you at your apartment at five," he stated and she was about to respond when a noise from outside her door caught her attention. She stared at the door, listening carefully and she was about to shrug it off as her paranoid brain when there was bang on the door, as though someone had just 

kicked it. It was followed almost immediately by another bang and she saw the door coming off its hinges.

"Detective, there's someone trying to get in," she said in a slight panic, she didn't hear what he said next because the door flew open and three men burst into her apartment. They spotted her immediately and she made a run for her bedroom door, the fire escape was outside her bedroom window and if she could reach it she might have a chance of actually living through this.

One of them cut her off though, moving fast enough that she knew beyond a doubt he was a vampire. Two more people came into the room, a man and a woman and from the look of it they weren't on her side either.

She backed away from the vampire that had cut off her escape and glanced toward her purse which was currently sitting on the small table beside her couch. The wooden stake Lorne had given her was in there, Lorne had probably heard everything, he'd hopefully be on his way with several armed if not completely prepared officers and she just needed to survive until they got there.

The female vampire had followed the direction of her gaze; she picked up the small black purse and pulled the wooden stake out of it. "Looking for this?" she questioned and Teyla sighed inwardly, she had no way to protect herself now. "Is this any way to treat guests?"

"Silly, little girl thought she'd be safe inside her apartment," another vampire mocked and she continued to back away from the group. Unfortunately she backed straight into a corner and with no means of defending herself she knew she was done for.

Suddenly one of the vampires jolted as though he'd been hit with something and he fell forward, hitting the floor and revealing the wooden arrow lodged in his back. Everyone looked toward the door in surprise and the familiar figure of Teyla's mysterious saviour stepped into the room holding what looked like some kind of medieval bow gun. He fired another shot, hitting the vampire nearest to her before the others recovered enough of their senses to attack him.

He discarded the bow in favour of his wooden stake, he dodged a blow from one of the male vampires, slamming the stake into his chest and watching him collapse to the floor dead. The other two seemed to realise they were in trouble and the female vampire turned back to Teyla, intent on killing their target before she left or got killed.

"Here," her rescuer shouted, throwing the wooden stake through the air before the final male vampire launched himself at him. She caught the piece of wood just before the female vampire reached her; she ducked to avoid the woman's fists and kicked the back of her legs. The woman fell to her knees and Teyla stabbed the stake into her back. She didn't bother waiting for the body to fall; the female vampire was dead so she turned around in time to see the final vampire meet his end.

Her saviour picked up his bow gun and then turned angry eyes onto her "Do you have a death wish?" he questioned and Teyla opted to remain silent. "I told you to stop; whatever it is you're doing has got you on their radar, stop and leave before they kill you."

"I can't, they have my friend," she told him.

"If they have your friend, she's already lost to you, give up before you join her," he stated and she felt a small amount of anger at his words.

"No, I'm not giving up, why don't you try helping me maybe then you won't have to keep coming to my rescue," she suggested and he looked at her as though she'd just grown another head right in front of him.

"If you wanna keep getting yourself in trouble that's your business, I don't care," he told her and turned to walk out of the apartment, probably in response to the police sirens she could hear approaching and the voices of her neighbours who had decided it was safe to start being nosy. She ran in front of him, cutting off his retreat.

"You do care," she stated "Or you wouldn't keep coming to save me."

"Well maybe I shouldn't bother, I have better things to do with my time," he said in annoyance and tried to step passed but she once again cut him off.

"I'm going to keep looking for my friend, you can either help me or not, I'm sure there'll be plenty of opportunities for you to kill vampires along the way," she told him and he looked at her for a moment as though he was studying her. "At least tell me your name so I don't have to keep referring to you as 'that guy who saved me'."

He said nothing, just walked passed her heading for the corridor, his heavy footsteps stopped and she turned around to see him looking at her. "Ronon," he said before he continued his way out of the apartment. She turned around to look at the mess he'd left behind, five bodies, two with wooden arrows in them and three killed by wooden stakes. What they hell was she supposed to tell the police?

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

**Sparkly – **I feel kinda bad for Teyla, I think she's having a worse time than Elizabeth at the moment lol. There's more Ronon in this chapter and Elizabeth begins to accept things, hope you enjoy it and thanks for the review.

**Steph – **Ronon is always cool lol, more of him in this chapter, thanks for the review.

**Fyd818 – **Elizabeth begins to accept what she is a little bit in this chapter, I'm glad you enjoyed John's scenes in the last chapter. There's another scene between Ronon and Teyla in this chapter so I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for your review, I've really missed them.

**Saphire – **I'd be paranoid if I was Teyla too, she's having a really rough couple of weeks lol. This chapter bring a little understanding of Ronon's character, I hope you enjoy it and thanks for the review.

**Jammeke – **Teyla is getting good at getting into trouble isn't she lol, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Stargatecrazy – **There's a lot of development in this chapter I think, you'll finally start to understand Ronon a little and Elizabeth starts to accept things. I hope you enjoy it and thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 13

Teyla sighed as she looked at the dead bodies still littering her apartment, the police sirens were getting closer now and she had no idea how she was going to explain all this. She was just considering making a run for it when footsteps behind her caught her attention, Lorne ran into the room and Teyla sighed again this time in relief.

"Wow, you made a mess," Lorne stated taking in the disaster zone her apartment had become.

"I thought vampires couldn't enter a person's home without permission?" Teyla questioned him in annoyance and then lowered her voice when she realised her nosy neighbours were coming out of hiding now that they had deemed it safe.

"You're still stuck in the movies, they can enter any place they want to," Lorne told her, kneeling down beside one of the bodies and studying the arrow protruding from it. "Our slayer friend?"

"Yeah, got his name if you're interested, Ronon," she told him and then looked at him thoughtfully. "If they can enter people's homes without permission why don't they just kill people like you and Sophia who know about them?"

"Sophia fills her home with garlic and she has UV lights around the place too, any vampire that goes in there wouldn't come back out," Lorne told her standing back up again. "As for me, my job keeps me a little more safe than most. They don't like to kill cops; cops investigating the death or disappearance of one of their own are likely to be far more persistent. The last thing they want is to have their world exposed; it would make their lives far more difficult."

"Great, that just leaves little old me," Teyla replied as the sound of the sirens told her the police had arrived.

"Tell them, these five people broke into your apartment and attacked you, you have no idea who they are or why they were after you. Two other people came in and saved you, killed your attackers and then took off. I'll say I saw two men running out of the building just as I arrived," Lorne instructed her and she nodded her head, ending the conversation just as two other police officers came into the apartment.

"Everything under control here detective?" one of them asked obviously recognising Lorne.

"Yeah, I'm gonna take Miss Emmagan outside," Lorne stated and the two cops nodded, the sound of more sirens indicating more police had arrived and as Teyla and Lorne stepped outside into the night air she saw Detective Adams and Peterson, the detectives officially working Elizabeth's case, approaching the building.

"Miss Emmagan, how are you?" Peterson asked her and she gave them a small smile.

"I've been better," she replied and Adams looked at Lorne.

"What are you doing here Detective?" he asked Lorne who just shrugged.

"I was in the area," he stated and Adams continued to stare at him warily for a moment.

"Miss Emmagan, if you could just come with us so we can get your statement," Peterson requested, the female detective seeming unbothered by Lorne's presence.

"Of course," she stated and glanced at Lorne as she was led away.

* * *

Elizabeth walked along the dark street silently; it had taken John a long time to convince her to come back outside. He'd promised to stay close and ensure she didn't hurt anyone, even though her vampire hunger was satisfied for the time being she was still afraid of what she might do. At the same time though, she wasn't afraid, her opinion of feeding had been changed ever so slightly by her first experience with it and that frightened her more than anything else.

It was survival, humans killed animals so that they could eat and vampires killed humans for the same reason. She knew that her situation was slightly different than that of a human killing an animal for their food but the more she thought about it the less disgusted she was with the idea.

John had barely said a word since they'd reached the street, allowing her to sort through the million thoughts in her head. "I wasn't gonna come back with you," she admitted, unsure why but feeling that it needed to be said.

"What?" he questioned in confusion.

"The night that I killed that man, I wasn't gonna come back. I was sick of feeling myself slowly slipping away from this life, feeling death crawling through my body, I just wanted it to be over," she told him and he nodded his head, understanding covering his face.

"And you figured it would be quicker just to let the sun do its job," he finished for her.

"That was the plan," she confirmed, looking down at the floor.

"It wouldn't have been much better," he stated and she looked up from her study of the concrete to him. "Death by sunlight is not pretty; I've seen it, hidden in the shadows while someone tried to outrun the dawn. It's one of the worst things I've ever seen, the worst part was knowing there was nothing I could do, leaving the shadows would have succeeded only in killing me as well as him."

"What happened?" she asked hesitantly but some part of her needed to know this.

"He burnt to death, it wasn't quick either, took probably a good forty maybe fifty seconds, that might not sound like long but to him, with his skin being burnt away, it probably felt like forever," John explained, a haunted look in his eyes as he recalled what he'd seen that day.

Elizabeth felt sick, she could almost picture the man's death in her mind and she quickly closed her eyes and shook the imagery out.

"There is no nice death for a vampire, the only way out is through a wall of pain, we don't get to drift away in our sleep," John stated and Elizabeth looked up at the sky above her, the stars were still visible but she knew it wouldn't be long before dawn began to creep it's way in, she was definitely not going to be outside then.

"Do you know what I hate myself for the most?" Elizabeth questioned looking at John and his expectant look continued. "It's not that I killed that man, though I admit that's pretty high on the list. It's because I don't wanna die anymore, when you first did this to me I wanted nothing more to let death come so I wouldn't have to keep being this monster. Now, it doesn't feel so much like I'm a monster and the bigger part of me just wants to live whatever life I've been given."

John stared at her quietly for a moment, probably trying to figure out what to say "Whether you want to stay this way or not is your choice, just be sure you're making the right one for you. If I'm honest with you... I'd much prefer it if you didn't kill yourself."

Silence descended on them again as they continued to walk, it was several minutes before John stopped and Elizabeth did the same, following his gaze to where the sun was beginning to rise. The first tendrils of orange and pink light were beginning to climb their way across the sky and Elizabeth realised then she would never be able to watch the sun rise or set again.

"Guess, we'd better go inside," she said quietly and John nodded, turning down the street that would lead them to the subway.

* * *

The police had bought Lorne's story more or less, Teyla had been as vague as possible about details hoping that what she had said wouldn't conflict with what Lorne said. Her apartment was now considered a crime scene and Teyla probably wouldn't be able to go back inside for several days possibly longer.

"Do you have friends you can stay with?" Lorne asked her and she shook her head emphatically.

"No, I have vampires hunting me down anyone I stayed with would be at risk of being caught in the crossfire," she told him and he nodded his head slowly. "I'll stay in a hotel under a fake name."

"You sure?" Lorne questioned and she nodded.

"Positive," she replied, looking at her apartment building across the street. Some of the neighbours had decided any events of interest were long since over, others were still crowded around in various places, most of them by the doors of the apartment stealing not so subtle glances at her.

Another car pulled up to join the few police and forensics vehicles that were still parked around the street. The familiar blonde head of Laura poked out, searching for and finding Teyla before she got out of the car properly and made her way toward her. "I think that's my cue to leave," Lorne stated. "I'll call you later."

Laura gave the retreating detective a suspicious glare before looking at Teyla, worry and concern replacing the glare. "Teyla I just heard, are you alright?" she asked, hugging Teyla.

"I'm fine Laura," she told her friend who shook her head in disbelief.

"You were just attacked by a gang in your own apartment Teyla," Laura began incredulously. "Who were they, why did they attack you and why are you hanging around with that detective, what's going on Teyla, what have you gotten yourself into?" Laura suddenly launched into a tirade of questions that made Teyla's head start spinning.

"Whoa Laura," she cut in forestalling any more queries on her friends part. "I've had a really long night, can we play twenty questions later?" she asked, having no intention of actually sitting down to play.

"Well you can come and crash at my place..." Laura began but once again Teyla cut her off.

"No that's okay but I think I'm gonna stay in a hotel thanks," she replied.

"But..." Laura tried but once again found herself cut off.

"I'll be fine at a hotel Laura," she stated adamantly, hoping her friend would just drop the matter but knowing Laura well enough to know it wasn't likely.

"What are you doing Teyla, I'm not stupid, you've gotten yourself into something and I can't help you if you don't tell me what it is," Laura said, her expression pleading with Teyla for the truth that would probably get her killed.

"You're right, I have gotten into something but you can't help me, you have to stay away from this because if you don't it will get you killed," Teyla implored trying to make her friend understand just how dire the situation was and how important it was that she stay away. "I've been looking into Elizabeth's disappearance and I've found out some things that certain people don't want me knowing."

"What things?" Laura asked, looking even more worried now than she had before.

"I can't tell you," Teyla replied.

"And that's why these people are after you, because you know something?" her friend asked and Teyla nodded her head. "Then stop looking Teyla, tell the police what you know and let them deal with it."

"The police can't deal with this Laura," Teyla tried to explain, the truth was her friend wouldn't be able to understand this without knowing the full truth and Teyla just wasn't prepared to give her that. "I know what I'm doing, I can handle this and I have people helping me that can handle it to."

"Like that detective?" Laura questioned annoyed.

"Yes, like him."

"Answer me this," Laura began. "Is Elizabeth alive?"

Teyla hesitated for a moment before answering; she couldn't be a hundred percent sure either way. "As far as I know... yes."

"Then don't expect me to sit on my ass and do nothing," Laura finished before walking away; she got back in her car and drove away. Teyla could only watch as she left, hoping that she didn't do something stupid before they had a chance to talk again.

* * *

"John."

John stopped and groaned inwardly, his plan to try and sneak down the corridor unseen having failed miserably and he wondered if he was going to spend the rest of eternity avoiding this. He plastered on a fake smile, hoping it didn't look as fake as it felt and turned around.

"Chaya," he greeted.

"How are you today John?" she questioned cheerily, unusually cheerily and it had John slightly scared.

"Fine," he replied, looking for the first exit to this conversation.

"That's good, I had a great night, I got myself two brand new toys. My mortal one is currently tied up in my room obviously and my new vampire is wondering around in a daze somewhere," she told him and John had to fight the urge to be sick, it really was disgusting the amount of pleasure Chaya took not only from being a vampire but from other peoples pain, it was like she thrived on it.

"Something I can do for you Chaya?" he asked hoping to move the conversation along if he couldn't get out of it.

"Oh, I can think of lots of things you can do for me," Chaya replied suggestively and somehow John managed to hide the grimace. "When are you going to give up fighting this?" she questioned taking a step toward him and running a hand over the black fabric of his shirt.

"Fight what?" he asked, removing her hand from his chest and taking a step back.

Chaya smiled seductively "You know John I always get what I want, always and I've been more than patient here, there's a limit to just how patient I'll be," she told him, smiling again before walking away and John glared after her. He took a deep breath, shaking the encounter off before continuing his previous path to his bedroom.

He walked in, closing the door behind him and all but through himself on his bed. He was going to need to feed soon, the beginnings of his thirst was returning and he was going to need to take care of that soon.

* * *

The hotel room was nice, not as nice her apartment had been before the vampire gang had decided to rearrange her furniture but it would have to do. She'd checked in under a fake name, Amy Kale, hopefully that would buy her some time to figure out what she was going to do now. She knew Elizabeth was alive, knew that she'd been turned into a vampire but that was it, that was all the information she had.

Thinking about it, she didn't have much, just the knowledge of a world she sometimes wondered if she'd have preferred to remain ignorant of and vampires trying to kill her. She was going to have to do more if she wanted to actually find Elizabeth; though what she'd do when she found her she had no idea.

She looked out of the window, the sun was going down and in an hour it would be dark out. She grabbed her purse from the bed, checking that both her room key and wooden stake were in it and trying not to laugh at how a wooden stake had become a necessity, like her lip gloss or her nail file. Leaving the room, she headed outside, knowing this was probably a stupid idea and not caring, she wasn't going to find Elizabeth by playing it safe.

She got out of the car, driving around aimlessly for probably the better part of two hours before finding herself in the street Elizabeth had disappeared in. She parked the car at the side of the road and took a deep breath, it was a little after 10pm, the street was empty and the missing person's rate in this area was high.

Getting out of the car, she wondered if maybe she'd lost her sanity somewhere in the last week and a half. She walked down the street, the bitter cold in the air making her breathing visible and she pulled her coat tighter around herself. It was several minutes before there was a thud behind her and she turned around, praying it was the person she'd been hoping for and not a vampire.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ronon asked her gruffly.

"Looking for you," Teyla replied. "Following me by any chance?"

"I had a feeling you were gonna do something stupid, I've seen your type before," he told her, taking a step toward her and lowering his voice. "They always end up dead."

"I need your help," she told him ignoring his statement.

"Go back to your hotel, hide there and hope the vampires decide to leave you alone," he ordered her turning to walk away from her.

"Why do you do it?" she called after him, the cold penetrating the black coat and she resisted the urge to shiver. Ronon stopped walking away; he stood still in the middle of the street. "Lorne lost his partner to them; I lost Elizabeth, what about you?"

Ronon didn't answer, he didn't even move, just continued to stand there and Teyla knew she'd hit a nerve.

"I am going to keep looking for Elizabeth and I'm not going to stop until I find her, they can throw whatever they want at me. If you lost someone to them... would you let them go if there were any chance you could save them?" she asked him, if he had lost someone then he would understand the statement, the question. If he hadn't, maybe he'd feel sympathetic and help her anyway.

"Get back in your car and go home," he told her and then continued to walk away. Teyla didn't wait until he was gone to do exactly as he had said; she didn't want to be out here any longer than she had to be.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

**Authors Note: Thank you to everyone who is reviewing this story and my other ones which I have now finished. I should be updating this one fairly quickly over the next couple of weeks if my muse manages to stick around. Just to let you all know the trailer for The Electus Series Part 2 is now on YouTube, the link is on my profile page if you're interested.**

**Fyd818 – **I didn't think that Teyla was the type to run and hide when her friends were in trouble, no matter how many gangs of vampires attacked her lol. You really are a vengeful little thing aren't you lol, but yeah Chaya really is horrible in this fic. I'm glad you liked John and Elizabeth's scenes together. Good to know Teyla's little moment of fear made the scene more real and that you like the slowly building relationship between Ronon and Teyla, thanks so much for your review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Saphire – **Laura is going to get much more involved later in the story; she's not the type to leave something like this alone. Good guess on Ronon, you'll have to wait and see if it's right though, in the mean time I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Sparkly – **Good to know you trust me now lol, the stakes thing will be explained later and your thought was horrible, made me want to cry! But you're right that would be very romantically tragic. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jammeke – **Aww, thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much. There's another little scene between Ronon and Teyla in this chapter and another important conversation between John and Elizabeth. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Stargatecrazy –** Another step toward Elizabeth accepting what she is in this chapter and yeah, Chaya really is annoying lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you for your review.

* * *

Chapter 14

John passed through the doorway from the subway and headed down the long spiral staircase into the vampire home. It was still early in the night so many vampires were out, enjoying their few hours of freedom and satisfying their vampire thirst. John had done what he needed to, fed on a man who had been wondering through the street alone; he'd gotten rid of the body and returned here.

He heard someone running down the staircase behind him, he turned around and John barely had chance to recognise the face of a fellow vampire before the man ran into him almost knocking them both down the stairs. John managed to reach his hand out to the wall, steadying them both and pushing the man off him.

"Alex," John said in annoyance "What the hell are you doing?"

Alex was not a particularly good vampire and he was coward, he only ever picked victims who had no chance of fighting him back. He was a weedy man, the only strength he possessed was the natural strength of a vampire, before he had been turned John had no doubt that he'd possessed no strength whatsoever, the kind of person who got bullied in the school yard because he made such an easy target.

"I was on a hit," Alex told him nervously and John got the distinct impression it hadn't gone well. "The target was a young woman, Teyla something or other I think her name was. Our servants told us she was working the evening shift at work, wouldn't be leaving until after dark so we were suppose to kill her as she was leaving work."

John hadn't even realised he was holding his breath until he tried to speak, the hit had obviously gone badly but that didn't mean that Teyla hadn't been killed. "What happened?"

"We never got near her, she was just coming out of the building and we were hiding nearby. That damn self appointed slayer showed up, killed Thomas and Sarah before they could even move. I managed to get away," Alex told him nervously and John felt bad that he was going to have to go and retell this story to the elders; they weren't going to be pleased that they'd lost more vampires trying to get to Teyla. Alex laughed "The woman probably didn't even know we were there."

It was probably the slayer that had been killing all the vampires the elders had sent after Teyla, it would explain how someone who was new to this world was surviving so many attacks, even with the help of that cop; she should have been dead by now. Obviously she had somehow ended up with the slayer protecting her.

"You should go and tell the elders, they'll want to know that their target is under the protection of the slayer," John stated and Alex went from looking nervous to looking terrified, John couldn't blame him, this news was not going to go down well and the elders had been known to misdirect their anger and shoot the messenger before.

Alex nodded his head and scurried off, John watched him go, sighing and heading for his quarters. He needed to rid himself of the taste and smell of blood that always lingered after a feeding; unlike many vampires he didn't relish the after taste of killing someone. After that he would have to go and tell Elizabeth that there'd been another unsuccessful attempt on her friend's life.

* * *

Teyla woke up in her hotel room, her sleep fogged mind needing a moment to remember why she had spent the last few nights there. She was still tired and her body protested at being made to get out of bed but she'd somehow landed the morning shift today and if she'd stayed in bed any longer she'd be late.

Dragging her body to bathroom she showered and changed, emerging wearing her waitress uniform, her hair still a wet mess. She saw the figure sitting on the end of her bed and almost jumped out of her skin.

"I have vampires hunting me down, can you please not sneak into my hotel room?" she questioned and the intruder's lips curled into a smirk. "Is there a reason you came here Ronon or were you just trying to give me a heart attack?"

Ronon stood up; it was weird seeing him in the daylight, she'd only ever seen him in the dark, the light made him seem less dangerous, more like a normal human being. "They tried to attack you again last night you know," he told her and she sighed, she actually hadn't known that. "When you were leaving work, they were hiding behind the bushes."

"Well, thank you for saving my life again," she said impatiently, wondering what he was doing in her apartment.

"You're a walking target," he stated.

"I could have told you that," she replied.

"I'll help you," he told her and she looked at him in surprise. "I'm not doing this for you or for your friend. I'm doing it because this way, the vampires come to me."

"All the same," she began, wondering whether or not he actually meant that. "Thank you."

"Like I said, I'm not doing it for you," he reminded her, heading towards the door and Teyla could only watch him go.

Now that she'd got Ronon's help she had no idea what to do with it. She knew Elizabeth was alive, that she was out there somewhere but a thought occurred to her at that moment. If Elizabeth was still alive, over a week and a half after she'd been turned into a vampire, that meant that she had to have fed, that she had to have taken the blood and the life of another human being. Lorne's words the night Laden had been killed returned to her.

'_Most of them don't want to be that way when they're first turned, they're normal people just like me and you, just like Elizabeth was. The blood, the increased strength and speed, the immortality, it consumes them and destroys the people they were before'_

Was there anything left of her friend to save? All of this could be for nothing if Elizabeth had changed, if she wanted to stay that way. Lorne had lost his partner to them, she was sure he must have been a good man, a cop wanting to make the world a better place. She very much doubted he'd been the type to enjoy being a vampire, to accept and live the life of a vampire, killing innocent people in order to live. Something had changed him though, changed him so much that he'd even tried to kill his own partner. The Elizabeth she knew had been a good person who only wanted to do good in the world but what if whatever had changed Lorne's partner had changed her friend as well, what if there was nothing left of Elizabeth to save?

* * *

Walking aimlessly through the corridors of the vampire home, a million thoughts were running through Elizabeth's mind. One of which was how she'd gone from hating and fearing this place and everyone in it to wondering through it alone, not even bothered about the vampires she was passing by.

Teyla however was at the forefront of her mind, she'd known her friend was stubborn and combined with her friend's inability to sit and do nothing when something bad happened it occasionally got her into trouble. This wasn't trouble though, this was way beyond that, this was death lurking around every corner waiting to jump out and get her.

There were vampires trying to kill her friend, all because of her and she could do nothing but wonder around the underground waiting to hear that they'd finally got her. She wondered briefly if maybe she should go and see Teyla, tell her to stop looking, stop trying to find her but she knew she couldn't. Seeing her friend alive would only spur Teyla on and Elizabeth really didn't need to revisit the life she had somehow managed to let go of, she didn't need those wounds re-opening when they'd only just healed.

"Elizabeth," a female voice called, drawing her out of her thoughts and at the end of the corridor she saw Chaya stood with Michael. She knew from John not to get involved with these two, to avoid them if she could so as she came to a stop beside them her mind automatically started trying to think up an excuse to leave.

"Chaya, Michael," she acknowledged.

"You're looking better than the last time we spoke," Michael commented, looking her up and down and Elizabeth resisted the uncharacteristic urge to hit him.

"Is there something I can do for you?" she asked politely, pointedly ignoring Michael and his statement.

"I was just wondering if you'd seen John anywhere this morning," Chaya told her and Elizabeth smiled and shook her head.

"No, sorry, I haven't," she replied and tried to move on but Chaya put a hand on her arm, preventing her from going and Elizabeth turned back to her.

"That's surprising, he seems to be with you all the time," she stated with an innocence so fake Elizabeth almost had to roll her eyes. "Poor man, he feels so guilty for turning you, though he really needn't. All the same, he's wasting all his time trying to look after you that he can't even enjoy himself anymore, can't take any time for himself."

Though Elizabeth knew the comment had been designed to get her, she couldn't help but feel guilty at the truth that was in it. John did spend all his time looking after her, trying to make up for turning her into this.

"No matter," Chaya continued, her voice going from innocent to malicious so fast Elizabeth was sure someone had just flicked a switch. "He'll lose his patience and get bored with you eventually and then he'll move on and find himself a new toy, a new pet to train just like the rest of us do."

Elizabeth forced a non caring smile and walked away, was that really all she was, a toy, a pet for him to train and then move on to another? Deep down was everyone here the same; was John no different from Chaya and Michael?

* * *

Teyla placed the food down on the table in front of the group of five who thanked her, she smiled and walked away heading for the back of the restaurant and informing Damien that she was taking her break. They had been ridiculously busy all morning, Teyla had barely had time to stop and breathe, her break had been well earned today and she was gonna spend the whole thing sitting down.

She took her bag out of the locker and routed around in it for the bar of chocolate she remembered tossing in there this morning. Finding that she then pulled out her phone, searching through her phone book for Lorne's number and hitting the call button. She held the phone to her ear, listening to the ringing tone for almost a minute and she was about to hang up when he finally answered.

"Lorne," came his voice sounding as exhausted as she felt.

"It's Teyla, I thought you might wanna know I spoke to Ronon this morning, he's gonna help us," she told him.

"That's great cos I'm gonna have to cut back my part of the help," he stated and she resisted the urge to sigh.

"Why?" she questioned.

"I'm working a kidnapping case and it's gonna take up most of my time," Lorne told her and she nodded her head even though he couldn't see it. She supposed a kidnapping case was a pretty good excuse to cut back his help.

"Is that the one I saw on the news this morning?" Teyla questioned.

"That's the one," Lorne replied with a sigh. "I'll still help where I can."

"That's fine; just concentrate on your case," Teyla told him, remembering the face of the young boy that had gone missing plastered all over the news that morning.

"I've gotta go," Lorne said "Let me know if you need anything."

"Will do," Teyla replied and hung up the phone tossing it back into her bag and reaching for the bar of chocolate. She had no idea what her next move should be, no idea where to go next and the lack of direction was beginning to annoy her.

She hadn't seen or spoken to Laura since the attack at her apartment, since she confessed that she knew Elizabeth was alive. They hadn't worked any shifts together and Laura was ignoring her phone calls and the numerous messages she'd left. They needed to talk, needed to sort this out before Laura did something stupid, like do what Teyla had done and start looking into this herself.

She looked at the clock, realising he fifteen minutes were up and she was gonna have to wait until her lunch break before trying to call her friend again only to be ignored.

* * *

Elizabeth stared at the wall of her bedroom, her mind more filled with thoughts that it had been early except now only two thoughts were at the forefront of her mind. The first being that she really had become a burned to John, her indecisiveness was weighing him down now. The second being that maybe John didn't actually care about her, that he was just making up for his guilt and then he'd move on. Was she really just a toy to him?

She wanted to say no, that the reason he was sticking around was because he cared but she'd known him less than two weeks, she didn't really know anything about him.

As if on cue there was a knock on the door and knowing it could only be John she called for him to come in. He walked in, closing the door behind him and staring at her as she continued to stare at the wall. "Bad time?" he questioned, looking between her and the spot on the wall she was staring at.

"I ran into Chaya and Michael this morning," she stated, not moving her eyes from the wall.

"Well that can' be good," John replied and she finally moved her eyes to him.

"Why are you hear?" she asked him and he looked confused for a moment. "Why are you hanging around me, I'm sure you have other things you'd rather be doing than babysitting me?"

"Okay, what did they say to you?" John questioned, sounding rather annoyed and slightly concerned.

"Chaya, said I was stopping you from enjoying yourself but that you were gonna move on eventually anyway, find a new toy to play with," she told him angrily as she stood up. Anger flashed through John's eyes but it was gone as quickly as it came.

"I told you what they were like, you shouldn't believe anything they say to you, especially Chaya," John stated and she shook her head.

"But why should I believe what you tell me, I've been here less than two weeks, I don't know you John. For all I know you're exactly like them, maybe that's how all vampires end up, maybe I'm just a toy to you, a pet for you to train," she said honestly and John stared at her silently for a moment before taking a step toward her.

"You are not a toy to me," he told her adamantly, looking her in they eyes and willing her to believe him and for some reason she did. "I'm nothing like Chaya or Michael and I never will be. I care about this, I care about you and whatever Chaya said to you, forget it, you're not a burden and you don't stop me from doing anything."

She knew the words were true but she had no idea how she knew that, she just felt that she could trust him, had done since the beginning even though he'd been the one to turn her into this thing. John was still stood right in front of her, staring down into her eyes as though he could see her soul and for a moment she thought she could see his. She looked down though and stepped away from him, breaking whatever moment they had both been caught up in.

"The sun will be down in half an hour, I came to see if you wanted to go and grab something to eat," he stated and she once again nodded her head.

"Yeah, I'll just get changed and meet you at the stairs," she replied and he hesitated a moment before he left her room.

She watched him go until the door closed behind him and then sighed and dropped down on to her bed. Laying their silently she could feel the beginning of her vampire thirst returning, it was barely noticeable in fact she wouldn't have known it was there if she hadn't been looking for it, waiting for it. She had a choice to make now and in all honesty, she had no idea what her decision would be.

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

**Jammeke – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. Ronon is not being a particularly heart warming character but there's good reason for it and he is slowly coming around. Elizabeth really is a good emotional target; I think she's the same way in the show, she's far more susceptible to that than physical pain even thought she will still stand her ground. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **I'm a shameless shipper too and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm glad you like the love/hate relationship Teyla and Ronon have going in this. I think they're both strong, stubborn personalities that if put in the right circumstances would make for an interesting clash. As for Elizabeth, I kinda want to hug her too lol. I think she knows deep down that John isn't actually a bad guy but with everything that's happened her trust in him is still very fragile though it's getting stronger all the time. Thanks for the review.

**Sparkly – **Ronon is being rather frustrating isn't he lol, he's slowly starting to come around though and I think you'll be less frustrated with him over the next few chapters. Chaya really is insufferable lol; I can't help but make her a bad guy in my fics she just so easily slips into that role. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 15

Teyla had only just turned the key in her locker when she heard the muffled ringing of her cell phone. She opened the door and pulled her bag out quickly, fumbling through the contents until her hand gripped the form of her vibrating cell phone. She pulled it out and answered it, trying not to drop her bag in the process.

"Hello," she answered in mild irritation, today had just been one of those days where it seemed like the universe was completely against you.

"Teyla it's me," Lorne's familiar voice replied.

"What can I do for you detective?" she questioned, holding the phone in between her shoulder and her ear, ensuring it wasn't going to fall before she moved her hand and pulled her jacket out of her locker.

"I just spoke to Carson," Lorne told her. "He says they want to see us, today if possible and you might wanna grab the big guy, it'll be dark soon."

"I'm just leaving work, give me an hour to change and I'll meet you outside the research centre," Teyla stated and once Lorne had muttered his agreement, Teyla hung up, closing her locker and making her way out of the restaurant. The sun was still up as she left but she knew within the next hour or so dark would be creeping its way into the sky.

She stood near her car, looking around her for any sign of the man she was fairly sure wouldn't be too far away.

"Looking for me," the familiar voice questioned from behind her, making Teyla jump and spin around to face him.

"Would you quit sneaking up on me," she snapped at him in annoyance and once he smirked that rapidly becoming annoying smirk.

"I didn't sneak, you just didn't hear me," Ronon stated and Teyla narrowed her eyes at him in a glare.

"Lorne just called me, the lab guys want to see us, he told me to bring you along," she told him.

"Thanks for the invite but I have better thins to do tonight that listen to a bunch of scientist drone on about whatever it is these guys plan to drone on about," he replied and Teyla pushed back the urge to sigh or possibly hit him, was he purposely trying to be difficult?

"It'll be dark by the time I leave the lab, I'm sure there will be a few vampires lurking around somewhere for you to kill," she suggested and Ronon looked thoughtful for a moment as he considered his options.

"Fine," he relented.

"Okay, meet me in my hotel room in half an hour," she stated and Ronon nodded, turning to walk away. Teyla watched him go and finally allowed herself to sigh, why did it feel like this was getting more and more complicated the deeper she got into it?

* * *

John left his room and walked down the long dimly lit corridor towards Elizabeth's quarters. He saw Chaya stood talking to a couple of other female vampires who happened to share Chaya's disgusting love of her vampirism though no where near on the same level. Normally he would have tried to slip passed unnoticed but today would have to be the exception.

He walked over to the annoying brunette, cringing at the high pitch laughter that greeted his heightened sense of hearing. "Chaya," he said interrupting the girls and relaxing when the laughing stopped. They all turned to look at him, Chaya with a look of both surprise and joy that she hadn't had to chase him down a corridor this time.

"John, what can I do for you?" she questioned seductively.

"I need to talk to you," he stated, giving the other girls a pointed look. Chaya waved her hand at them and they all retreated down the corridor, just enough that they could look almost like they were minding their own business but close enough that they could still hear every word.

"Okay John, you have my undivided attention," Chaya purred when she turned back to him and it actually made John feel slightly nauseous.

"Leave Elizabeth alone," he told her simply and watched her face change from the happy, seductive expression to outrage and annoyance.

"You don't want me playing with your toy?" she asked bitterly "Come now John, didn't your mother ever teach you to share."

"Elizabeth is not a toy," he stated, he was getting really sick of having to repeat that to her. "She is not to be played with, messed with or whatever else you have in mind, am I clear?"

"Crystal," Chaya finally answered after a moment to get over her shock, John was fairly sure no one had ever spoken to her like that before in her entire life and he was also pretty sure he was gonna end up paying for it later.

John walked away without another word though he did hear the group of girls once again congregate around their queen bee, words of shock and outrage reaching is ears before he turned around the corner.

That had probably not been one of his smartest moves, Chaya would either vow to get even or go crying to her father who would get even on her behalf, possibly both. It needed to be done though, he had enough to worry about without Chaya sticking her ore in and messing with Elizabeth's head. It had taken him the last two weeks to gain Elizabeth's trust and it would take a lot longer for him to earn it completely, he wasn't about to let Chaya shatter it.

He knew Elizabeth's next feeding was coming up; she was probably already feeling it. He was worried, more worried than he could ever remember being. She'd decided twice already that she would die rather than feed on someone, than remain a vampire and it was possible she'd make that same decision a third time. On the other hand, she was getting used to what she was now, she'd told him herself that she wasn't so sure she was ready to die anymore. Her decision could go either way and all he could do was nervously wait until she made it.

* * *

Teyla had barely had time to shower and change before she'd found Ronon sitting in her hotel room waiting for her. She'd grabbed a bar of chocolate from her mini fridge, knowing she'd barely eaten all day but it would have to wait until she got home later. They left the hotel and Teyla drove them both to the research centre where Lorne was already waiting for them.

"Teyla," Lorne greeted and then turned to look at Ronon as he took his own sweet time in getting out of the car. "Tall person."

"Perhaps we should go inside," Teyla suggested and Lorne nodded and led the way, Teyla glanced briefly at the sky, the blue was disappearing now as the dark began to emerge. She couldn't for the life of her remember the way to the lab so she was content to follow Lorne's lead, Ronon several feet behind her.

They finally emerged in the lab just in time to see the small explosion that had Teyla jumping once again; she was doing that far too often lately. When the smoke around the now charred beaker disappeared she could see Rodney and Radek stood there, both of them slightly covered in ash.

"Definitely too much gun powder," Radek stated and Rodney just glared at him through his protective glasses.

"Hey, you made it," Carson replied, glancing wearily at the two ash covered scientists on his way passed them. "We were beginning to think you weren't gonna show."

"I apologise, I had only just finished work when Detective Lorne called me," Teyla said and Carson shook his head with a smile.

"Don't worry about it love, it's good to see you're still among the living, most people who start looking into vampires don't last very long, though I'm guessing this guy has something to do with it," Carson replied, gesturing to Ronon who was stood silently by the door.

"Carson, Rodney, Radek, this is Ronon," Teyla introduced and when Carson attempted to greet the man he only got a grunt in response.

"Talkative isn't he?" Carson stated sarcastically as Radek and Rodney disappeared into the back room with the charred remains of their experiment. "Anyway, onto the reason we called you here. We think we may be close to a cure."

"Are you serious?" Teyla questioned, hope flooding through her and she tried to ignore the concerned look she got from Lorne in response.

"Very serious, we're fairly sure we've almost got it, the only problem is we can't be certain nor can we find out what changes need to be made unless we test it," Carson explained.

"And to do that we need vampires," Rodney finished, emerging from the back room with Radek now mostly ash free.

"Let me guess, you want us to get them for you?" Lorne questioned.

"That would be very helpful, yes," Rodney replied with a little too much sarcasm in his voice.

"We don't need them yet, we won't be ready to start testing for a few days, we'll let you know when," Radek offered a little more politely. Teyla had known this thing was getting more complicated, she had vampires hunting her down and she was about to start going out there looking for them.

* * *

As Elizabeth woke up she immediately noticed the difference, the thirst had made itself much more known over night. It wasn't bad enough to warrant any concern yet but given another three days and she'd be well on her way back to death. She got out of bed, searching through her clothes for the dark blue jeans and red shirt she knew were in there somewhere. Finally locating them she showered and changed, pulling on her black boots before leaving her room.

It was still only 9am so the corridors were relatively empty, the sun would have been up an hour ago and many vampires would only have returned then, most were probably just throwing themselves into bed.

She arrived outside John's room, hesitating before knocking on the door, when he took a while to answer she figured he was probably still asleep and was about to leave when the door opened. John stood there, his hair the same mess it always was and a half asleep look on his face.

"Lizabeth?" he questioned and she almost frowned at the syllable missing from her name but given that he was still half asleep she let it slide.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, I'll come back later," she said, turning to leave but John stepped forward and grabbed her arm.

"You didn't wake me, I was actually just getting up when you knocked," he told her and released her arm, stepping back to allow her into his room. She accepted the invitation after a moment, walking in and sitting on the couch.

"What's up?" John asked moving to sit beside her, his mind was clearly just waking up, Elizabeth almost had to laugh at the adorable, half asleep expression on his face and she decided just to make small talk to give his mind a chance to play catch up.

"I finished that book last night," she told him and he narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, even half asleep he probably knew that wasn't why she had come here but he let it go.

"You mean that massive, 700 page thing?" he questioned and she nodded her head.

"It was good, you should read it," she suggested and John shook his head empathically.

"I think that 300 page thing you somehow made me put on my night stand is about as book loving as I'm gonna get," her replied and she smiled, laughing softly as she turned to see the book she'd told him to read sitting exactly where he'd said it was, book mark about half way through. "So what did you really come here for?"

She snapped her head back to him; apparently he was sufficiently awake now. "Do you feel guilty?" she asked, deciding just to jump straight in now that he was clear headed enough. "After a feeding," she elaborated.

"Every time," he replied honestly and she looked down at her hands which were resting in her lap.

"How do you deal with it?" she questioned and he shrugged.

"I don't know, I just do," he answered and she sighed. Her decision had already been made even before she came here; she just needed to know those answers. If she was going to do this then she was going to have to do it soon before she could change her mind. She didn't want to stay in this limbo, hanging somewhere between life and death, not really sure which way she was going and she wasn't going to keep weighing John down with this. Chaya may have been wrong about John just using her, toying with her but she'd been right when she's said that Elizabeth had become a burden and she wasn't going to keep being that. She'd made her decision and she was going to have to stick with it.

"John," she began her voice shaking and John looked at her, concern written all over his face. "Can you take me to the surface tonight?"

John's face didn't change, in fact he didn't move at all, he knew as well as she did that her next feeding was coming up. The fact that she was asking him now and the meaning she was forcing into her voice so that he would understand this wasn't going to be a social visit to the surface told him what he needed to know. He knew she'd made her decision though for some reason she couldn't bring herself to tell him what that decision was. She'd been weighing it up, thinking about it since she'd killed that man and she knew what she was doing.

"If that's what you want," John replied and Elizabeth could barely detect the trace of worry in his voice.

* * *

This time Laura would not be able to ignore her, she was standing outside her friend's apartment and if the blonde slammed the door on her she would just have to shout through it, she was going to talk to Laura whether the woman liked it or not.

The door finally opened and Laura stared at her friend in annoyance. "Do the words 'I'm not home' mean anything to you?" Laura questioned sarcastically.

"No, we need to talk," Teyla stated and Laura stared at her for a moment before stepping back. Teyla walked passed her, entering her friend's apartment and keeping a wary eye on the time. She'd had to come here after work and it would be dark soon, though she knew Ronon was probably lurking around somewhere she would much rather be back in her hotel before then.

"So talk," Laura stated.

"I know you're mad at me for keeping things from you," Teyla began but Laura cut her off.

"I'm not mad at you... okay maybe I am but I'm more upset than anything else. Elizabeth is my friend too, I may not be as close to her as you but she's still my friend and you didn't tell me that you knew she was alive," she told her and Teyla felt her already high level of guilt increase ten fold.

"I'm trying to protect you," Teyla defended, no matter how guilty she felt for keeping the truth from Laura she wasn't going to regret it. If she had to do it all over again she would have done a lot differently – like not end up on a vampire hit list – but she would still have lied to Laura.

"I don't need you to protect me..." Laura said but this time Teyla cut her off.

"You do from this," she stated "You have no idea what's going on and yeah, that's because I won't tell you but you are far better off not knowing. I have people trying to kill me, that night at my apartment was not the first time they've tried and it won't be the last. If it wasn't for certain people that I've met over the last few weeks I'd be dead already, I'm in a position now where I can handle this but that's because I got lucky. I'm not going to get you involved because if I did, I might as well buy a gun and shoot you with it."

Laura stared silently at Teyla; her expression was almost unreadable except for the slightest amount of unconcealed shock.

"You have to trust me Laura, I'm doing everything I can to get Elizabeth back," Teyla finished before heading toward the door. She left without another word from either her or Laura and she sighed when she reached the street. She really hoped she'd gotten though to her but knowing her friend it wouldn't last long, Laura wasn't the type to sit back and do nothing, it was something the two of them had in common, the difference was it had already landed Teyla in trouble and she'd rather her friend didn't follow.

* * *

It was a horrible night, the air was damp and the stars were blocked from view by the dark storm clouds that were threatening to open up on anybody who didn't scurry inside quickly. Elizabeth didn't have that luxury, she was going to stay here and see this through, besides the bleak atmosphere felt perfect for what she was about to do.

A cold wind blew through the mostly empty street and Elizabeth wished that she'd had the presence of mind to grab her jacket before she'd left the vampire home. Her mind had been spinning though and she hadn't even given a though to the jacket when she'd walked out of her room. She shivered involuntarily and tried not to glare at the invisible force that had caused it. She felt heavy material wrap around her and it took her busy mind a moment to register the leather jacket that was now missing from John's body and draped over her shoulders.

She knew he had to be cold, the black shirt might have long sleeves unlike her red one but that would only offer so much protection from the cold. She grabbed it with every intention of giving it back to him but he stopped her.

"Keep it," he told her and she hesitated "You need it more than I do and besides, I'm naturally quite warm."

"But it's freezing," she protested knowing that natural warmth – like his shirt – would only help so much against the cold.

"Which is why I gave it to you," he countered and after another moment's hesitation she sighed and put the jacket on properly, pulling the too long sleeves up to free her hands and zipping the front of the jacket closed.

"Thank you," she said quietly when she realised how much warmer she was with the jacket on, the thick, heavy material coupled with some of John's natural warmth he'd left behind offering her enough protection from the miserable weather.

"You gonna tell me why we're up here?" he questioned and she looked down.

"You know why we're here," she replied quietly.

"I know you've made your decision but you've yet to tell me what that decision is," he reminded her, there was still a trace nervousness in his tone that had disappeared since their conversation that morning and she knew it wasn't fair of her to continue keeping him in the dark... so to speak.

"I'm tired John," she stated "I'm tired of fighting this inner battle with myself all the time, it's driving me crazy and it's not fair on you either, you shouldn't have to keep babysitting me and wondering whether I'm gonna be dead at the end of the week or not," she began but John stopped walking and cut her off, grabbing her arm to make her stop with him and she looked at him for the first time since the subject had been brought up.

"I told you to forget what Chaya said to you," he said, annoyance in his voice she knew wasn't directed at her but at Chaya.

"And I did... mostly but she was right about one thing, I have become a burden. I get that you feel guilty for turning me, that you're sorry but you know what... you don't have to be. I forgive you John, 

so you can stop feeling like you have to make it up to me," she told him and he just stared at her for a moment, she knew he'd needed to hear that, to know that she wasn't angry at him for doing this to her, not any more.

He swallowed back whatever he was feeling at that moment in favour of returning to the subject at hand. "You're not a burden, you never have been and you never will be. I'm not here because I think I have to be, I'm here because I choose to be."

"That being said," she began "You don't have to stay here, you can go home, I can find my own way back later."

She supposed that answered his earlier question, she hadn't come out here to die, she'd come out here to live.

"I'm staying," he stated simply and she nodded her head after a moment, her eyes scanning the street as she figured out whose life she was going to take to save her own. There were two women running through the street, trying to beat the impending down pour to their homes. An elderly man was making his way up the stairs of an apartment building and a red headed woman who seemed unconcerned with the weather or the dark was heading in their direction.

Giving her list of options there was only really one choice, the red head who was probably not that much different than Elizabeth had been. Finishing work late at night and making her way home, stubbornly refusing a lift from her friends in favour of being independent.

John it seemed had followed the direction of her gaze. "Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked her, giving her one final chance to change her mind but she'd made her decision and she couldn't change it now, for her sanity's sake, she had to see this through.

"Positive," she replied.

"Okay, follow her, when she's alone, don't hesitate," he told her and she nodded her head, watching as the woman turned down a street slightly ahead of her. She followed after her, the street was completely empty and she knew it was now or never. She used the speed she knew she had gained as vampire to close the distance between her and her victim. The woman had never stood a chance, she'd clearly been too wrapped up in her own thoughts to register anyone was behind her.

Elizabeth grabbed her arms, holding her there when she tried to struggle free and she felt her vampire teeth come out. She sunk them into the woman's neck and felt the vampire thirst within her disappear a little bit at a time as the woman's life was drained away from her.

When she was done she let go of the body, allowing it to fall to the floor and staring down at it. She heard the footsteps behind her and felt John's hand on her arm. "Are you alright?" he questioned and she continued to stare at the body.

"I felt it, the moment she died I felt it," she stated quietly, her mind had been so consumed by her vampire instincts and then the shock of what she'd done when she'd fed on that man that she hadn't felt his death. This time though there was no shock, she'd been in control of her vampire instincts and she'd felt everything.

"We have to move the body, the elders don't like anyone to leave traces of our world behind," he told her and she nodded her head. Leaning down she helped John to pick up the body of the woman he'd killed. "There's a river nearby, it leads straight out to the ocean and the currents pretty strong so the body will be way out to sea by morning."

Knowing John had done this enough times to know what he was doing Elizabeth once again nodded her head and allowed John to lead her two blocks to the river. Their vampire strength and speed made the trip much quicker and easier than she would have expected. She barely registered the first few drops of rain as she watched the body disappear into the dark water; it wasn't until she heard the thunder, the clouds giving the people on the ground a final warning, that she was startled out her thoughts. She turned to look at John who was stood there silently, waiting for her to gather her thoughts as he studied her.

"Let's go home," he said after a moment and she fell in step beside him as they headed back to the subway.

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

**Jammeke – **I'm glad you liked the scene between John and Chaya and yes, there will be payback. I figured now that Elizabeth is beginning to accept what she is that the decision to feed wouldn't be so difficult. I want John's jacket too lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparkly – **I think you did ask near the beginning lol and I still don't know now lol, I never do until I get near the end. Laura isn't the type to sit around and do nothing so she'll be getting more involved soon. I feel bad for the poor red head but someone had to get fed on. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Saphire – **Thanks for the review**. **There'll be a lot more of Carson and the others through out the rest of the story since they're playing a vital role in getting Elizabeth back. I think Ronon probably does like sneaking up on Teyla; he's the type to find it amusing lol.

* * *

Chapter 16

Elizabeth sat in the library, trying and failing to focus on the words of the books she'd found to read that morning. She'd probably read the first paragraph six times already and still the words hadn't actually registered. Last night was still weighing on her mind, taking up too much of her thought processes for her to have any room left for reading.

She felt guilty for feeding on that woman, for taking her life just to save her own but she'd already known that she would. What she hadn't expected was that she wouldn't feel completely overwhelmed by that guilt; she'd thought it would be worse than this, much worse. What the hell was she, how could she take someone's life, go out there and voluntarily kill someone and not feel completely riddled with guilt and anger at herself. There was no anger whatsoever and the guilt, whilst really bad, was at a level she could handle and that made her feel even worse.

She sighed, her own thoughts were confusing her and that in itself had to be a bad sign. There was no way she was going to get through a single word of the book so she closed it and carefully tossed it onto the nearby chair. She leant back into the couch just in time to hear the footsteps behind her and she looked around to see John walking toward her.

He dropped himself carelessly onto the couch and she had to pull her feet away so he wouldn't end up sat on them.

"You okay this morning?" he asked her and she almost laughed at the completely expected question.

"Not as bad as I thought I'd be which is actually making me feel worse," she told him and John frowned, his mind needing a moment to comprehend the statement and she was surprised when he nodded in understanding when even she didn't understand her thoughts.

"It's easier when you understand it," he stated. "When you fed on that man the last time, you weren't ready to understand what is was you were doing, that you were simply surviving the same way every other living creature survives. Granted it's not exactly the same, its people we're killing but the principle still works."

Elizabeth remembered thinking exactly the same thing in the days after she'd killed that man, feeding on him had given her a chance to really understand what this was and once she'd stopped being stubborn and opened her mind to it, she wasn't as disgusted with the idea as she had been.

"I just... I want to feel guilty, I killed someone and I don't feel as guilty as I should, doesn't that make me the monster I'd been afraid I was, doesn't that make me just like Michael and Chaya?" she questioned and John shook his head.

"No, you're nothing like them, you feel guilty, they don't feel even the slightest bit of guilt for what they do, in fact they enjoy it. You're not a monster, you're just trying to survive the only you can," John stated and she took a deep breath, pushing her thoughts about guilt and death out of her mind, at least for now and reaching for the leather jacket laid over the side of the chair where she had left her book.

"Thank you for lending me this," she said as she handed it back to him and he smiled as he took it from her.

"You're welcome," he said "And just so you know, I'm glad you decided to stick around."

She stared at him for a moment and decided that she glad she was sticking around too.

* * *

Teyla sighed as she sat down at the small table; she dropped her bag by her feat and stared at her lunch. She'd thought she was absolutely starving when she'd been told she could take her lunch break but now that she was sitting here she wasn't actually hungry anymore. All the same it would be several more hours before she got chance to eat anything of substance and with that in mind, she shoved a fork full of pasta into her mouth and forced herself to eat it.

Laura still wasn't talking to her, today was the first time they'd worked together since the attack at her apartment when Laura had found out that Teyla knew more about Elizabeth's disappearance than she'd let on. Her friend was also on her lunch break, sitting at a different table seemingly unaware of Teyla's existence.

She knew that in some ways Laura had a right to know the truth, to be told everything that Teyla knew but at the same time, Teyla didn't have the right to put her in that kind of danger. It was unfair and annoying but that was her current problem, to tell or not to tell, it was one more problem to add to the list.

She was almost half way through the pasta when her cell phone rang and she swallowed, cursing as she tried to locate her phone.

"Hello," she answered, finally locating the cell phone at the bottom of her bag.

"It's Ronon," the familiar gruff voice stated and Teyla was completely stuck on the fact that he actually owned a phone.

"You're calling me on a phone?" she questioned dumbly "You own a phone?"

"Of course I own a phone, what do you think I am a cave man?" he questioned and Teyla mentally admitted that the thought had crossed her mind once or twice.

"Of course not," was her vocal response and there was silence on the other end of the line as though he was trying to figure out if that was the truth.

"I spoke to the nerd trio," he told her after a long moment of quiet and Teyla rolled her eyes. "I'll meet you after work, we're going hunting."

And by that he obviously meant that she was going to go out and help him find the people that were trying to kill her. Why did it feel like she was serving herself to them on a silver platter? She winced at the poor choice of words her thoughts had chosen since these people actually wanted feed on her, to drink her blood, change platter to chalice and that would have been an eerily accurate thought.

"I don't finish work until 6," she stated.

"I'll be around," his voice informed her before the line went dead and Teyla sighed, tossing the phone back into her bag. She picked up the plate of pasta and threw the remainder of it in the bin; she'd suddenly lost her appetite.

* * *

Laura watched as Teyla answered her cell phone, having a brief conversation before hanging up with a frustrated sigh. She left the small employee cafeteria, tossing what was left of her food in the bin and heading back through to the locker room.

Laura stood up, having finished her own food and took the empty plate through to the kitchen, placing it in the large dishwasher to be cleaned. Her lunch break had technically ended a few minutes ago so she made her way back to the front of the restaurant. One of the other waitresses was just seating a couple and Laura knew she was due her own break so she let the woman know she was back. The young waitress smiled and handed Laura the couple's drinks order before going for her break.

Laura went to the bar, taking care of their drinks order and returning to the table with it. She saw Teyla emerge from the back, immediately getting back to work and Laura continued to avoid contact with her. She was still mad and upset that Teyla had chosen to keep everything from her, that she was still doing so. After Teyla's speech the other night she understood it a little more but that didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

She moved over to another table, a family of five and it took three sheets of paper from her note pad to write down everything they wanted; the youngest two children changed their orders three times, starting an argument between the whole family. Laura stood there patiently and smiled when the mother apologised, the order finally taken she all but ran from the table before anyone could change their minds again. She sent the order through to the kitchen and looked at the clock, she was stuck here for another several hours today and while most of the time she didn't mind her job, she just couldn't be bothered with it today.

The end of her shift finally arrived and she and several other girls made a beeline for the locker room, Teyla among them. The brunette seemed in a hurry so Laura made certain she left the restaurant only a short distance behind her. She stayed near the door and watched as Teyla walked over to her car, looking around her as though searching for someone.

A tall man walked up behind her, his size was intimidating enough but the dreadlocks that framed his face added to the 'don't mess with me if you want to live image'. He said something to Teyla, making her jump and turn around to look at him, she watched in shock as she actually told the guy off for making her jump, apparently he'd done it before. The man was twice her size and she was staring him down, telling him off and Laura wasn't sure she'd ever seen that kind of complete confidence in her friend before. Whatever she had gotten herself into had changed Teyla more than she'd realised.

The man said something else but they were too far away for Laura to hear them and they both got in Teyla's car, driving away from the restaurant and out of sight. Laura got in hr own car, her mind racing and she wondered for the millionth time what the hell Teyla had gotten herself into that she was meeting up with guys like that after work.

* * *

Elizabeth stared at John unsure if she'd understood him correctly, there was no way he'd just said what she thought he'd said. "A hit?" she questioned, swallowing back the lump in her throat.

"Yeah remember I told you about the hit list your friend is on, well it's a really long list and the elders pick vampires at random to go on the hits," John explained and Elizabeth took a deep breath to calm the attack of nerves that were threatening to overwhelm her.

"And they want me to go?" she asked and John nodded.

"We both have to join the hit squad being sent out, it's my fault. I told Chaya to back of and leave you alone, I knew she'd do something in revenge. She must have gone to her father and had him put us on the hit, she knows you're still new to all this," he told her and she sighed, she was kinda glad this hadn't happened a few days ago because she was still struggling with what she was then and this would probably have broken her.

"Do I have a choice?" Elizabeth questioned already knowing the answer.

"No, if the elders put you on a hit you have to go," John replied "It's a big hit, a group of people that have turned themselves into a vampire killing squad. We got word from servants about where they're hiding and the elders want them taking out straight away."

"Who else is going on the hit?" she asked.

"Couple of other vampires, I don't think you've met any of them," John answered and she took another deep breath, grabbing her jacket and following John out of the room.

Could she really do this? Killing people to survive was one thing, killing them because the elders said to was another matter entirely. If she wanted to live though, if she was accepting this as her life then she was going to have to get used to this.

They reached the subway where a group were gathered by the hidden entrance to the vampire home. John walked over to them and Elizabeth guessed they were the hit squad that had been put together. Besides her and John there were four other vampires, three male and one female and they all looked her over curiously before they continued with their discussion.

"There should be twelve of them held up in the house, the elders want all of them taking out," one of the vampires said and Elizabeth listened carefully as the plan was decided on before they all moved out. It was simple, two of them would use the back entrance, two of them would go in the front and the other two would go through windows.

To Elizabeth's surprise there were two cars waiting outside the subway for them, three vampires going into one of them and a fourth following her and John into the other. She and John opted to sit in the back leaving the other guy to drive.

"Servant's cars," John whispered to her, answering her unvoiced questioned and she nodded her head, staring out of the window at the streets passing by. She recognised where she was even in the dark, she was about three blocks from the hospital, she'd once had to take Teyla there when the woman had slit the palm of her hand open picking up shards of broken glass. Other than that, Elizabeth had never really had reason to visit the hospital, she didn't get sick very often and when she did she would usually just stubbornly let her body deal with by itself.

The car came to a stop on a street of run down houses, many of which had old, dirty for sale signs in the small gardens. "This is it," their vampire driver announced as he got out of the car.

"Everyone know what they're doing?" the female vampire asked and received several nods and confirmations in response. "Then let's get this done cos I'm starving."

John and Elizabeth walked around to the back of the house as they'd been told to, waiting to hear the sound of the front door being kicked in before they entered. Elizabeth took several deep breaths, trying to keep her mind focused on what she had to do rather than her nerves or the voice in her head whispering that this was wrong.

"You alright?" John asked and Elizabeth realised he'd been watching her.

"I'm fine," she replied and John gave her a disbelieving look.

"I thought I was gonna completely freak out the first time I was sent on a hit," he confessed and she felt a little better knowing she wasn't the only one. "I still feel nervous now and if I was to listen to my conscience right now I'd be leaving."

So, this feeling was never gonna go with time, she'd always feel this horrible when she got sent on hits, the thought both comforted and scared her. She was brought out of her musings by the crashing sound that indicated the front door had been kicked in and she stepped back allowing John to do the same to the back door before she followed him into the house.

She heard what sounded suspiciously like a hissing sound as she and John entered the lounge, two men were stood there shining U.V torches at the female vampire and her companion that had come through the front door and they were both backing away from the light. One of them noticed the new arrivals and began to turn the torch on them, John moved forward so fast the man never had time to react. John took the torch from his hand, tossing it away into the corner of the room and avoiding the fist that came flying toward him instead.

Elizabeth heard footsteps and voices behind her and she turned to see more people coming down the stairs with torches and wooden stakes. She was about to back into the lounge when the hallway window crashed in, one of the vampires making his entrance and immediately getting into a fight with the five men that had just arrived.

There were more footsteps upstairs, feet pounding on the ground as more vampire killers scrambled to get into the fray. Elizabeth knew she had to move, had to do something or she and other vampires were going to be killed. She stepped forward, grabbing the arm of one of the men and forcing him to turn to her. He fist connected with his face and the increased strength that wasn't fully under her control yet sent him flying into the nearby wall.

The vampire that had crashed through the window moments ago had already killed one of the men and was taking advantage of it. He threw her the stake he'd taken from one of his attackers and she barely had time to catch it after she'd registered it flying toward her. "Kill him," he shouted, talking about the vampire killer currently getting back up from the floor where he'd landed. "They're just as good at killing them as they are us."

Elizabeth hesitated but when more men began running down the stairs she knew she only had seconds to react before the others arrived. She stepped forward almost on autopilot, slamming the stake into the man's back as he tried to stand. He fell to the floor where it took him several seconds to bleed to death.

Still in shock from what she'd done she didn't realise the other members of the vampire killing team had arrived. One of them grabbed her and she turned in time to see the stake heading toward her chest. She braced herself for the impact that never came; the man was pulled away from her and thrown violently into the wall and she realised only then that John had come through to the hallway from the lounge. He followed the man toward the wall, pulling him up from the floor by his neck.

"Bad move," he told the man before he the turned his head, quickly and hard enough to break the man's neck. Three of the men tried to run out the front door and the female vampire followed them, telling John and Elizabeth to do the same, leaving the other half of their team to take care of the few remaining targets in the house.

* * *

They'd been out searching for the last few hours and much to Teyla's surprise they had yet to run into any vampires. Ronon told her they had probably seen several but there was no way to tell until they attacked, they looked just like everyone else. It was after midnight now and Teyla knew she was gonna be exhausted at work tomorrow; thankfully she had the afternoon shift so she could at least get a couple of hours sleep in the morning.

"Who is she to you?" Ronon asked suddenly, breaking the quiet they had both lapsed into. "This... Elizabeth?"

"She's my friend," Teyla replied, she'd told him that before.

"If she was nothing more than a friend to you, you wouldn't be doing this, you'd have let the police do their job," Ronon replied. "The detective got involved because it was his partner they took, why is Elizabeth so important to you?"

"She's the only family I have," Teyla told him "We might not be related by blood but she's like my sister."

"Good enough," Ronon stated and Teyla knew he'd been right, she had a lot of friends, mostly from work but the only people she would have done this for were Elizabeth and Laura. If it had been anyone else, she would have done all she could to help the police with their investigation but she probably wouldn't have got so deeply involved that she'd have discovered the world of vampires, it wasn't a nice thought but it was the truth. She was once again about to ask Ronon why he had got involved but was cut off by shouting down the street.

She looked forward to see three men running out of one of the old, crappy houses on the street. They were quickly followed by another three people, two women and a man who seemed to be chasing them in Teyla's direction.

One of the women caught up with two of the men, knocking one to the floor and grabbing the other. Ronon pulled Teyla in between two buildings, his face judging the scene before him as if deciding whether to intervene. The woman killed the man, slitting his throat with the small blade in her hand before she took off after the other man who had got up and run beyond the end of the street.

Once they had disappeared from view, Teyla stepped slightly out of their hiding place; the other two attackers had caught up with the final man. Ronon had been about to step out and stop them when Teyla grabbed his arm and stopped him. She looked closely at the woman, praying she was wrong but as she moved under a street light Teyla could clearly see the familiar features of her friend... Elizabeth.

Elizabeth had grabbed the man by the shoulders of his jacket and pushed him back to the other guy who broke his neck, killing him in an instant. Without thinking Teyla walked completely away from where they were hiding and down the street.

"Elizabeth," she shouted and the woman turned to look at her, shock covering her face for an instant before it was gone again.

"Teyla, what are you doing here?" Elizabeth asked, her voice sounding angry more than anything else. Now that she was close enough, Teyla could see the small amount of blood that marked Elizabeth's jacket.

"Looking for you," she replied and registered Ronon walking up behind her. The man that was with Elizabeth stepped forward quickly and pulled Elizabeth back.

"Vampire slayer," he whispered to her and Elizabeth looked at Ronon warily. Much to Teyla's surprise Ronon didn't try to kill them.

Elizabeth turned her gaze to Teyla "Back off Teyla, before you end up dead," she stated seriously and Teyla wasn't actually sure whether she'd meant it as a warning or a threat.

"Elizabeth, we need to go," the man by Elizabeth's side said, his wary gaze not having left Ronon. His hand was on Elizabeth's arm and he used it to urge her away, after the first few steps she went willingly, following him back to the two cars that were waiting for them.

Ronon once again pulled Teyla out of sight as several other vampires emerged from the house and the female vampire returned from down the street. A large white van pulled up alongside the other two cars and two men got out.

"Bodies?" one of them questioned.

"Mostly in the house, two there and one around the corner," the female vampire said, her vampire teeth still present and blood stained.

Teyla watched as Elizabeth got into one of the cars with the guy that had pulled her away and another man, the other three got into another car and drove away as the two new arrivals picked up the bodies and tossed them into the back of the van.

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

**Fyd818 – **The library is probably the first place I'd go too, I love to read lol. I'm glad the hit squad assignment was a surprise and that the scene was written well enough to be clear, I think I rewrote it five times lol. I figured it was about time we got to see Laura's POV on everything, especially since she's going to be getting more involved soon. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and thanks for the review.

**Saphire – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the part about Ronon owning a phone and him making Teyla jump. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Sparkly – **I didn't picture him living normally either but I thought it would be interesting to see more of his normal side. There'll be more about him later in the story. John is very protective of Elizabeth and trying to kill whilst he's there is always gonna be a bad move lol. There wasn't really much opportunity for Teyla to mention the possible cure but it will come up again later. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jammeke – **John has been there for Elizabeth through the whole thing and despite him being the one that attacked her she feels safer around him now than anyone else; he's proved to her that she can trust him. I'm glad you enjoyed the hit and Laura's POV, I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 17

John walked into Elizabeth's room to find her sitting in the middle of her bed, legs crossed and book placed firmly in her lap. She spent far too much time reading, granted there wasn't much else to do down here, no TV made for a boring life. She looked up from her book when she heard him enter and smiled slightly, closing her book and pushing it off her lap.

"So..." John began as he sat down on the edge of her bed, studying her and trying to figure out what if any affect last night had. "Eventful night."

"If by eventful you mean I joined a gang of vampires killing twelve people, one of whom I killed myself and then saw my friend from the life I've been trying so hard to let go of?" she summed up questioningly and John shrugged.

"Yep, that's what I meant," he replied and she narrowed her eyes at him for a second before she sighed.

"What was she even doing there?" she asked, more to herself than anything else but John decided to answer anyway.

"Like she said, looking for you. You already knew she'd been looking into your disappearance, that shed learnt enough for the elders to deem her a threat and put her on the hit list," he told her and she nodded her head slowly.

"What if the elders send me on her hit?" she asked, fear in her voice that John knew had been weighing on her mind since yesterday.

"They won't," John reassured her. "They may be cold but they're not stupid, they know vampires will forever have ties to their old lives and many of them won't be able to kill people they had once been close to."

"Have they ever done it, told someone to kill a person they'd known?" she questioned and John shook his head.

"No, I won't say people haven't gone and done it themselves but to my knowledge the elders have never ordered anyone to do it," John informed her and she started nodding her head once again as though she was trying to convince herself she wouldn't have to kill Teyla.

"Maybe I should go talk to her..." Elizabeth began but John decided to cut that thought off before she could get any further with it.

"I wouldn't," he told her and she looked at him, probably confused by the adamant tone that had suddenly worked its way into his voice. "You'd be putting Teyla at risk."

"Yeah but I'm more in control now and I fed a couple of days ago," she tried to protest.

"Trust me it's not worth the risk, whether it be from you or someone else," he stated and when she once again looked at him in confusion he decided he'd better explain. "Before I was turned I didn't have many people I was close to, in fact I can only think of one person I was close enough to that I'd call them family. He was a guy I'd grown up with, known since I was about two years old, David. He did what Teyla is doing, he tried to find me when I suddenly disappeared and just like Teyla he found this world and got his name on the hit list."

"What happened?" Elizabeth asked.

"I went to see him, told him that I was fine, that I was happy the way I was and he had to stop looking for me. He'd have been safer if I'd just stayed away. Another vampire followed me and while David was still thrown by my visit, the vampire attacked and killed him," John explained and Elizabeth looked at him in shock, maybe now she'd understand why he empathised with her so much, he'd been through it all himself and he just wanted to stop her from having to go through the same thing.

"What happened to the vampire that killed him?" she asked and John looked down.

"He died, three days later," he told her.

"Did you kill him?" she asked and John shook his head.

"Wish I did, he was killed on another hit before I could get to him," he replied and Elizabeth bit her lip in thought, probably trying to figure out how to respond and he found it really bothered him what she thought of him.

"I guess I should stay away from Teyla then," she stated simply.

* * *

She really was one of them, Elizabeth really was a vampire and she really had killed other people. The thought ran around Teyla's head repeatedly and though she'd already known it even before she'd seen Elizabeth, actually seeing her was a whole new thing.

Teyla stared at the wall in front of her, she was already dressed and ready for work and she knew if she didn't set of in the next minute she was going to be late. She couldn't bring herself to move though, she just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. She'd gone through all of this to find her friend; to save her but Elizabeth hadn't looked like she needed saving last night.

She saw the shadow pass over and turned around, startled and relieved to find it was Ronon standing behind her. The sun might be up but that didn't mean she was safe, she had no reason to believe she'd ever be safe again.

"You're gonna be late for work," Ronon told her and she almost smiled.

"How do you know that?" she questioned.

"You told me what time you started work today while we were out last night," he reminded her and she did vaguely remember mentioning that to him at some point. She was about to open her mouth when her cell phone rang, she reached into her bag and answered it.

"Hello."

"Teyla its Rodney McKay, what happened, you and Ronon were supposed to bring me a test subject last night," he stated before she had a chance to get another word out of her mouth. She registered Ronon sitting down on the chair in the corner of her hotel room.

"Something came up, we weren't able to get you one," she told him and then sighed as he started ranting about not being able to find a cure if she didn't bring him vampires to test it on. She tried interrupting him several times and her already painful headache was getting worse. She reached a hand up rubbing the top of her nose between her eyes and willing the painkillers to hurry up and kick in.

She barely noticed Ronon stand up and move toward where she was sitting on the bed. He pulled the phone out of her hand and she had neither the will nor the energy to protest.

"Shut up McKay or I'll make you get your test subjects yourself," he told the scientist and then hung up, dropping her phone onto the bed next to her.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"No problem," he replied and she smiled slightly. "Look, I'm gonna go back out again tonight, you don't have to come, I can get the vampire myself."

"No, I want to help," she stated quickly and Ronon smirked though he didn't bother to tell her what he was smirking at.

"I'll meet you after work again then, you better go before you're late enough to get fired," he told her and she narrowed her eyes at him curiously.

"Careful now Ronon, you might start sounding like you care," she said only half jokingly.

Ronon didn't reply, he just left her hotel room through her window and down the fire escape, she made a mental note to tell Ronon to use the door and then locked the window, probably wouldn't actually stop vampires coming through it but it never hurt to try.

* * *

"Elizabeth would you relax, it's just like a normal cafeteria, there's nothing sinister going on inside," John tried to tell her but Elizabeth continued to eye the door they were approaching warily.

"What do they eat?" she asked and John laughed.

"What do you think they eat?" he questioned and she looked at him with her best "I'm not sure I want to know' expression to which his response was more laughing.

"It's not funny," she told him, smacking him in the arm.

"They eat normal food Elizabeth, I will admit that occasionally steaks are served rare but other than that, its normal, well cooked food," he finally answered her question and she turned her wary gaze back to the large wooden doors of the dining room. "Relax," he told her again and opened the door, pulling her into the room behind him.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she was met by the very normal looking dining room, tables and chairs were lined up through the room and at one end was a buffet, the food being cooked and replaced when it got cold by the few vampire cooks. She allowed John to lead her through the rows of tables to join the two or three people that were piling random foods onto their plate.

John handed her a plate, grabbing one for himself before getting several spoonfuls of pasta. Elizabeth looked at the various foods in front of her, unable to decide what she wanted and realising only then how little she'd actually eaten since this had started. She still got hungry, John would usually bring something to eat to her bedroom or the library or wherever she was but she'd actually been living, more or less comfortably on about one sometimes two meals a day.

"I wouldn't if I were you," John said quietly when her eyes lingered on the curry.

"Why?" she questioned.

"Heightened senses remember, taste being one of them, you thought curry was spicy before, it has nothing on what its like to eat it now, trust me," he told her and she shrugged, reaching for the pasta instead and decided there was a story in John's advice.

"So you tried it then?" she asked him as they made their way to an empty table. "The curry."

"I may have," John replied sitting down and Elizabeth looked at him expectantly as she did the same. "Yes, I did. I loved spicy foods before I got turned but trying them afterwards was definitely a mistake, I thought my mouth was actually on fire. I must have drunk a whole pint of water in just a few seconds. Most of it did not go in my mouth and I didn't care as long as some of it did."

Elizabeth could no longer hold back her laugh at the image that came to mind and John glared at her "Come on, it's funny," she told him and he shook his head, clearly trying not to laugh at himself.

Elizabeth frowned for a second when she saw Chaya standing in the corner of the room, glaring daggers in their direction. As far as she knew Elizabeth had done nothing to make the woman mad at her so she had no idea why it looked like Chaya was trying to burn a hole through her head. She shrugged it off and went back to her food; it was obvious that for whatever reason Chaya didn't like her.

Both she and John were almost finished with their meals when Chaya approached the table and Elizabeth watched John sigh.

"Glad to see your getting out and about again John," Chaya stated, the hidden meaning to Elizabeth clear.

"I've been getting out and about as much I've wanted to," John stated and once again the hidden message to Elizabeth was obvious.

"Come now John, we all know you've been a little copped up recently, a little tied down," Chaya said and Elizabeth rolled her eyes again at the hidden message. If these two had something to say to her why could they just say it to her instead of sending her hidden messages in their conversation with each other?

"Is there something I can help you with Chaya?" John asked, his annoyance making itself known.

"I just came to say hi," Chaya lied "Are they serving any good food today, I might join you?"

John glanced at Elizabeth's now empty plate and quickly stood up. "We were actually just leaving weren't we Elizabeth?"

"Erm... yeah," Elizabeth replied after a moment, following John's lead and standing up. They left the dining room before Chaya could offer any protest and Elizabeth looked back to see the brunette glaring at her even harder than before. "Did I do something to make her mad at me because she really doesn't seem to like me and I've met her what, three times?"

"You haven't done anything," John told her, stopping part way down the corridor to turn and look at her. "Just ignore her, she has a bit of a selfish streak and she's not used to not getting what she wants, in fact I'm fairly sure she's gone her whole life without ever hearing the word no when it didn't suit her."

"What is that she wants?" Elizabeth questioned, wondering what Chaya could possibly want that Elizabeth was getting in the way of but when John sighed and looked at the floor realisation hit her and she wondered how she didn't think of that before. "Oh... you," she answered her own question and decided it was most definitely a good idea to ignore the sudden wave of emotion that felt suspiciously like jealousy, did John like Chaya?

* * *

Ronon pulled Teyla to the side, hiding them behind the bushes so they could watch the scene before them unnoticed. The woman was obviously a vampire, the fact that she was feeding on the now unconscious man was a real give away. There was nothing they could do for the man now; they just had to wait for the right moment to grab the vampire.

"They're not as alert when they're feeding," Ronon told her and Teyla nodded as he stepped out of the bushes, this wasn't going to be easy, trying to take a vampire alive sounded suicidal to her.

She followed behind him, keeping hold of the U.V flashlight Ronon had given her and getting ready to switch for the stake tucked into the waist band of her trousers at a moments notice. Ronon had been right, they weren't as alert when they were feeding because they got much closer than she would have expected before the woman noticed.

She released the body and looked at them, probably judging whether she should run or fight. She chose the more stupid idea and charged toward them, picking Teyla as her target. Teyla waited until she was closer than was comfortable before switching on the flashlight and shining it onto the vampires face. She recoiled immediately, hiding her face from the light and Ronon took that as his opportunity, hitting her over the back of the head with a rock he'd picked up behind the bush and watching as she fell to the floor unconscious.

"That was scarily easy," Teyla stated. "I was expecting this to be suicidal."

"Woulda been harder if she'd tried to run," Ronon said, throwing the body over his shoulder and then pausing thoughtfully for a moment. "If she wakes up stake her," Ronon told her and Teyla inwardly cringed at the thought of the woman waking up, slung over Ronon's back where he couldn't see her.

She tucked the flash light into her pocket and kept a wary eye on the unconscious form of the vampire as she grabbed her cell phone. It took several moments for Carson to answer the phone but he finally did with a sleepy 'hello'.

"Carson, it's Teyla, we have a vampire," she told him and Carson seemed to be fully awake in an instant.

"Where are you?" he asked her.

"About 15 minutes away from the research centre," she replied.

"I can be there in about ten minutes, I'll call Radek and Rodney and meet you outside," he told her and after murmuring her agreement she hung up.

She grabbed Ronon arm dragging him behind a nearby car when she saw a group of young men walking up the street. Ronon knelt down beside her when he too spotted them and they stayed there waiting for the group to pass before they continued on their way.

When they finally arrived at the research centre, Carson and Radek were already there waiting for them. Radek unlocked the doors, typing his pass number into the panel by the door and holding it open for them to enter.

"Is it wise, carrying her like that son?" Carson questioned "What if she wakes up and bites you?"

"Then I'll kill her," Ronon replied and Carson nodded his head.

They made it to the lab and Teyla looked at the security camera in the corner wondering why she hadn't thought of it before. "Will security not see us?" she asked.

"Our security guy is not very professional, he is rarely in the building when he's on shift, fortunately for him the only people who have noticed are those that have reason to be sneaking around here in the middle of the night so no one actually says anything," Radek told them, unlocking the door to the back room and gesturing for Ronon to carry the woman through.

Teyla followed them, the room looking as much like a lab as the other except it was obviously supposed to be a store room. Only the far side of the room was being used for that purpose, a couple of cabinets with various supplies in covered the back wall. There was a lab bench across the wall near the door with a sink and various equipment on it. In the middle of the room was a bed with restraints on it, obviously brought here from the hospital.

Ronon placed the woman down on the bed where Radek and Carson began to do tie the restraints around her wrists and ankles. "Are you sure that will hold her?" Teyla asked.

"Vampires may be stronger than the rest of us but the majority are only marginally so," Carson told her "We replaced the restraints with some of our, they have metal inside them rather than just being made of leather."

"Alright, where is it?" Rodney's voice asked and they all turned to see him enter the room. He looked at the unconscious form of the vampire laid on the bed and cocked his head. "You're sure she's a vampire, I wouldn't want to be giving this to a normal person?"

"She was feeding when we got her, go check her teeth if you want to," Ronon suggested and Rodney opened and closed his mouth several times.

"No, that okay I'll take your word for it," he replied and walked over to the safe in the corner of the room, he opened and pulled out a vial of liquid, taking some of it out into a syringe before locking the vial away again. He approached the woman, turning to Carson "Do you want to do it?"

"Scared Rodney?" Carson questioned and Rodney shook his head.

"Of course I'm not scared, I just thought you might want to do it," he stated and took hold of the woman's arm. The needle pierced her skin and Rodney pushed the liquid from the vial into the vampire's blood which seemed to have been enough to wake her up. As Rodney pulled the needle back out she opened her eyes and sat blot upright, her still bared vampire teeth aiming for Rodney's neck. Both Rodney and Carson who had been standing beside the bed jumped back to a safe distance.

"How long until we know if it worked?" Teyla asked.

"Hard to be sure, could be days," Radek told her and she looked back at the vampire, who was screaming to be released so she could feed on them all.

"Days?" she questioned. "Surely somebody will hear this."

"The beauty of working in a state of the art lab like this," Rodney began. "Sound proof walls."

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

**Authors Note – Sorry about the wait for this chapter, I was intending to get this story done rather quickly but real life has been a bit hectic for me over the last week and my muse has abandoned me, she only drops by for occasional visits. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get the next chapter up but I'm hoping it'll be soon. **

**Jammeke – **I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter, things start to get interesting between Elizabeth and John in the next few chapters and I'm glad you enjoyed their scenes in the last one. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Stargatecrazy – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the last few chapters and Elizabeth's small spark of jealousy. I hope you enjoy this chapter too and thanks for the review.

**Fyd818 – **I never really thought about the vampire taste sensations either lol, my hands just kind of wrote that on their own. Chaya isn't one to give up easily despite John's obvious lack of interest in her and yeah, I think leaving as a normal human would be the worst possible fate for her. I'm glad you liked the scene with Ronon and Teyla and I'm not sure I would have been brave enough to carry that vampire where I couldn't see her. Thanks for the review!

**Kuroima – **I'm glad you're enjoying the story and the part with the cell phone, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparkly – **Of course Chaya wants John but he's already fallen for Elizabeth. The captured vampire does get a name, a familiar one but no, unfortunately it's not Chaya. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Saphire – **Thanks for the review, as for the cure working, well you'll have to read on and find out. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 18

It was her first day off in ages and she fully intended to use it to relax, no vampires, no strange men, no nothing. She got out of the bath tub she'd spent the last forty minutes soaking in and pulled a towel around her, drying herself off and getting dressed to go shopping. After everything she'd been through in the last couple of weeks she'd earned a good shopping spree and maybe even a spar day.

She was just picking up her purse to leave which of course was when there was a knock at the door. She sighed and hoped it was just the hotel's maid coming to clean the room but when the door didn't open and there was a second knock her hope vanished. She opened the door to find Laura on the other side, a determined look on her face and Teyla knew she meant business. Without seeking permission Laura walked passed her into the room and Teyla closed the door behind her.

"I've thought about it," Laura began. "And I've decided that I want to know... no, I demand to know what's going on. I understand that it could get me killed; I understand that I'd be taking that risk but the risk is mine to take. Elizabeth is my friend and so are you, I have the right to know what's happening and I'm not leaving this room until I know."

Teyla sighed again and closed her eyes for a second, Laura was right and Teyla had been debating her decision to keep this from her since the beginning. "I think you'd better sit down," Teyla told her, gesturing to the bed, Laura looked at her for a moment before complying and Teyla sat down next to her. "This is going to sound completely insane and impossible but I swear to you that every word of is true."

"Okay," Laura said, her tony a mixture of curiosity and worry.

"Elizabeth was attacked in the street on her way home from work, the man that attacked her was... a vampire," Teyla informed her friend and watched the various emotions flicker over her friends face.

"A vampire?" Laura questioned incredulously, trying to judge if Teyla was actually being serious.

"Yes, I know it sounds insane but it's the truth," Teyla stated and Laura raised an eyebrow and then looked at her friend in annoyance.

"Look Teyla, you don't expect me to actually believe that do you, if you're just gonna..." Laura began but Teyla cut her off.

"I didn't believe it at first either but the people that attacked me at my apartment, that have tried to kill me several other times have all been vampires. Elizabeth's one of them now I..." Teyla began but was stopped by the sound of her cell phone ringing. She pulled it out of her bag and answered it, gesturing for Laura to stay where she was.

"Hello," she answered.

"Teyla its Rodney, you need to come to the lab. I've already called Lorne and Ronon, they're on their way in," Rodney told her without so much as a hello and Teyla decided she might as well kiss goodbye to her relaxing day off.

"Now, can't it wait?" she questioned hoping she could get through to Laura first.

"You need to come now," Rodney replied and Teyla found herself sighing once again.

"Alright, I'm on my way," she informed him and then hung up, putting the phone back in her bag and turning to look at Laura. She knew how difficult all this was to believe, she hadn't believed it herself until she'd seen it, until she'd been attacked in the street by several vampires intent on feeding on her. "I have to go, if you want proof of what I'm telling you then you should come with me."

"Then will you tell me what's really going on?" she questioned and Teyla resisted the urge to sigh a fourth time. After this there would be no doubt in Laura's mind what was going on, all she'd have to worry about then would be her friend's reaction to it.

"Let's go," she said, grabbing purse and her car keys as she headed for the door.

* * *

The fire was crackling and casting an orange glow over the dimly lit library, books had been abandoned in favour of conversation and Elizabeth had to admit that this was the most relaxed 

she'd felt since this whole mess had started. Even the topic of conversation, the lives they had lost when they'd been turned wasn't weighing her down.

"I thought Laura was actually going to throw a tantrum right there in the middle of the restaurant. Teyla of course being the calm diplomatic one decided to try and offer suggestions but these people just sat there complaining about the food we served, asking for these extravagant meals that we probably weren't even stocked for and then insulting the waitresses that had been trying to help. There was about fourteen of them and everyone but me, Laura and Teyla had decided to abandon all hope of serving them and avoid the table," Elizabeth laughed, the whole thing had been extremely aggravating at the time but looking back the three of them had always laughed about it.

"What happened?" John asked, smiling and obviously enjoying the story.

"They told Teyla that they weren't going to order any of the 'crap' from the menu and then turned to look at Laura saying that the service was worse than the food. Laura just threw her pad of paper on the table, kicked an empty chair and stormed out of the restaurant just as the boss came in," Elizabeth replied, smiling at the memory of the completely bewildered look on Damien's face when Laura had nearly knocked the man over storming passed him.

"Did she get in trouble?"

"Nearly, Damien looked furious once he got over his shock but Teyla and I quickly explained that we'd been dealing with this group for over half an hour and they'd done nothing but insult the restaurant, the food which they hadn't even ordered and the staff. Damien told them to get out and never come back unless that had a serious attitude adjustment and sent me to find Laura, the woman had walked all the way down the street and probably would have kept going if I hadn't caught up with her," Elizabeth finished, still laughing from the memory of Laura's version of a tantrum.

"You see, I would never have thought working in a restaurant would be that entertaining," John stated and Elizabeth smiled.

"It's not usually, there are really dull days but if you like the people you work with and some of them are just like Laura, you usually get some form of entertainment," Elizabeth replied and John shook his head in amusement. "What about you, don't you have any interesting stories to share?"

John looked down "Probably one or two."

"Tell me one," she requested, it felt like he knew far more about her than she knew about him.

"Okay," he began and looked thoughtful, trying to recall a memory to share with her. "About a year before I was turned, David and I went out to celebrate his birthday and we got so drunk that I didn't even know which way was up. We staggered out of a club at some ridiculous hour in the morning and started trying to find a cab I think; it's all a little blurry. Anyway this woman comes up to us and starts hitting on David, they started dancing in the middle of the street and I was laughing at them so hard my drunk ass fell over and I just stayed on the floor."

"Now there's an amusing image," Elizabeth stated and John sent her a mild glare before continuing with the story.

"So this woman tripped over, I think she was drunk too and her wig fell off, it turned out she was a he and David had been dancing with and groping this person," he told her and Elizabeth bit her lip to hold back a laugh. "David looked traumatised at first but then he just grabbed this guy by the arms and helped him to stand up, mentioned something about the breasts seeming very real and then dragged my drunken ass off the floor and carried on searching for a cab."

"He wasn't even mad?" Elizabeth questioned, she'd been sure this story was gonna end in violence.

"Are you kidding me, even the next day when he was in a crappy mood cos the alcohol had worn off and he had a massive headache he still found the whole thing hilarious. He wasn't even embarrassed by it, he used to tell people about it all the time... that was just the kinda guy he was," John stated, his tone going from amused and happy to solemn in just a couple of seconds.

"It sounds like he was a really great guy," Elizabeth stated and John nodded his head before seemingly mentally shaking himself.

"He was and you're the first person I've talked to about him since he died," he told her and she leaned forward, placing her hand on his shoulder. He took hold of her hand and smiled gratefully; he released it almost immediately and stood up to throw more wood on the fire. When he sat back down Elizabeth studied him.

"It wasn't your fault you know, that he died," she stated and he looked at her, his face an open book to her just for that moment.

"Yeah it was, if I hadn't gone to him that day that vampire would never have followed me to him and David wouldn't have been thrown enough to get killed by it, he was a strong guy and he'd already faced down a few vampires by that time. If he hadn't been so distracted by my sudden appearance and disappearance then he would have been able to handle himself," John told her.

"You don't know that, you'll never know that," Elizabeth said quietly "You went there thinking that you were doing the right thing, you were trying to help him and no matter how it turned out, no one can fault you for that, you did the best you could. You didn't have someone helping you like I do."

"Maybe," John responded, glancing at her before looking down again.

"You know, I really am grateful for everything you've done for me, I don't think I would have made it through the first couple of days if it hadn't been for you," she told him, feeling that he needed to hear that.

"If it hadn't been for me you wouldn't be in this position in the first place," he reminded her and she couldn't actually argue with that.

"No, but I told you I forgive you for that and you've helped me through the rest of it," she told him and then smiled slightly, deciding that she definitely needed to lighten the mood. "I'm glad it was you that bit me and not somebody else," she told him in amusement and John smiled slightly as he finally looked at her properly. Their eyes met and Elizabeth was overcome by the urge to grab him and kiss him, even if it was just to wipe the remaining sadness out of his eyes.

"Come on," John said, breaking the silence that felt like it had lasted an eternity. "We should go get lunch."

* * *

Teyla parked her car in the large car park outside the research centre and got out of the car, she spotted Lorne and Ronon waiting for her near the entrance and she made her way over to them with Laura following.

"What are we doing here?" Laura asked her but Teyla didn't respond, just continued her way toward the two men.

"Been waiting long?" she asked them and Lorne shook his head glancing at Laura while Ronon just stood there and looked at the blonde with annoyance. He turned his eyes to Teyla questioningly.

"What is she doing here?" he asked her.

"I had to tell her everything, she doesn't believe me so I'm bringing her here to prove it to her," Teyla told him, ignoring the annoyed expression he was now giving her.

"Teyla, you know how dangerous it is to get more people involved," Lorne said, more diplomatically than Ronon's method of glaring his dislike of the situation at her.

"I had to," Teyla replied and Lorne shrugged,

"I suppose it's your call," he stated and then turned to head into the building, Ronon immediately followed and Teyla glanced at Laura who was still watching the two men warily.

"You don't have to come inside," she told her friend who looked at her. Her reluctance was obvious and Teyla knew she was afraid of the possibility that what she'd told her was the truth, however miniscule that possibility was to Laura. She also knew that Laura wouldn't pass up the chance to learn the truth about what was going on with her friends.

"I want to know," Laura said and Teyla nodded, following Lorne and Ronon into the building and listening to Laura's footsteps behind her. They reached the lab relatively quickly, Rodney, Radek and Carson were all gathered around a microscope, discussing something about blood and they all stopped what they were doing when they heard the group enter.

"You brought another one?" Rodney questioned in irritation as he looked at Laura. "My lab is not a visitor's centre you know."

Under normal circumstances Laura would never stand for the amount of crap she was getting today, especially when she had neither said nor done anything to warrant it but as it was the blonde kept silent.

"You wanted to see us McKay?" Lorne questioned and Rodney turned and headed into the back room, muttering under his breath.

"There is something you need to see," Radek told them as everyone followed after them. "The vampire Ronon and Teyla brought in has had an adverse reaction to the serum we gave it."

As they walked into the back room they were greeted by the site of the female vampire that they'd brought in a couple of days ago. She was still strapped securely to the bed, there were angry red marks around her wrists at the edge of the restraints and her reaction to the serum was obvious. She was struggling violently to get free, screeching and snarling at them and Teyla could see the vampire teeth still present in the young woman's mouth. Laura it seemed had seen them as well and she took a step back in shock.

"What the hell happened?" Lorne asked, watching the snarling vampire warily.

"It seems her body has had the opposite reaction to the serum than intended; it has only given the disease a more firm grasp. She can't even turn it off, she's running a hundred percent on vampire instinct now, there's nothing left of the human she was before," Carson explained and Teyla once again looked at the woman in front of her. All traces of the woman's humanity had obviously been lost, the cure had failed.

"Can you reverse it?" she asked, she glanced briefly at Laura who was switching her gaze between Teyla and the vampire, clearly shocked with both.

"No, there's nothing we can do for her now," Rodney told them and Teyla watched as Carson walked over to Laura.

"Are you alright love?" he asked her having seen the state she was in and Laura silently shook her head.

"So kill her," Ronon said and Teyla turned her attention back to the conversation at hand. Rodney and Radek both looked unsure, as if they hadn't really considered the idea of killing her just because they'd stripped her of all her humanity.

"Ronon is right, if there is nothing you can do to help her now then kill her, it would be unfair to her to keep her alive in this condition and as long as she remains alive she poses a threat," Teyla voiced her agreement, wondering when she had gained the ability to make such a cold decision so easily and she ignored the look of complete shock she was getting from Laura.

"Do it," Lorne added his own agreement, directing the statement more to Ronon than anyone else. Carson stepped away from Laura, and joined Ronon, Teyla and Lorne around the vampire.

"Her name was Ellia, I figure if you're going to kill her you should at least know that," he told them, this obviously didn't sit well with him.

Ronon reached into his coat and the vampire, now running on pure instinct and sensing death approaching began to struggle even more violently against the straps holding her in place. The last few days had obviously worn them down and she was able to get her hand free, reaching out to try and hit Ronon who stepped back out of her reach. Teyla grabbed her hand and pushed it down against the bed and when the woman tried to lean forward and bite her Lorne took hold of her head, holding it down on the pillow.

"Now," he shouted, obviously not wanting to be this close to a vampire that was as far gone as this one any longer than necessary.

Ronon lifted the wooden stake in his hand and brought it down into the vampire's chest. Teyla heard the gasp of shock from Laura and out of the corner of her eyes she registered Carson moving over to her but she kept her focus on the vampire who continued to struggle for a few more seconds before she succumbed to death.

Teyla released her hold on the woman's arm with a heavy sigh and looked up to see Carson leading a rather distraught looking Laura out of the room. "I have a question?" she asked after they'd gone. "Why wooden stakes?"

Of all the things that should be on her mind at the moment that ought to have been somewhere at the bottom of the list but it had been bugging her for days now. "Organic components in it that the virus likes about as much as sunlight and garlic, it massively decreases the vampires' ability to heal itself quickly. So their body doesn't have a chance to start recovering before it dies," Radek told her and she nodded her head.

"What now?" she asked them.

"We gathered a lot of data from our tests on Ellia," Rodney stated. "We make some changes to the serum and try again."

Teyla thought about it for a moment, if they failed it would be another death but she'd been killing these people for over two weeks now and they'd been trying to kill her, as much as she didn't like killing she couldn't muster up much sympathy for them.

* * *

"Quit being so impatient we've got all night," Elizabeth said when John once again sighed in exasperation. He'd been stood by the door waiting for her for the last ten minutes whilst she finished getting ready. She tugged on her boots and walked toward the door, she stopped in the door frame, right in front of John and probably closer than she should be.

"What am I forgetting?" she questioned and John smiled, bringing the jacket in his hand up for her to see. "Ah, I knew there was something, thank you."

"You're welcome," John replied as she took the jacket from him and slipped it on. She didn't move her eyes from his and despite the fact that the sadness from the library had now gone from his eyes, the urge to grab him and kiss him was still present and annoying. "You ready to go now?" he asked her, his eyes still on her.

"Yeah," she said quietly but it took her several seconds to actually move from the doorway. John followed behind her closing the door to her room and they made their way toward the surface. They'd almost reached the stairs when the annoyingly familiar voice of Chaya stopped them and Elizabeth almost wanted to smile when John groaned in annoyance, she'd figured out fairly quickly that Chaya's desire to have John in her bed was not shared by John himself, the knowledge made her feel far better than it should.

"Where are you two of to?" she asked cheerily.

"Out," John replied and Chaya frowned for a second.

"Yes I can see that, John dear," she said "But I was asking where you're going once you're out."

"Feeding," John told her, keeping his answers as brief as possible. "We have to go, bye."

The glare Chaya gave them, mostly directed at Elizabeth, could probably have killed a normal person. John put his hand on Elizabeth's back, urging her to exit the conversation with him and continue to the stairs.

It felt weird to just be casually heading out to feed on someone, to take someone's life and while a small part of her still didn't want to do this, the bigger part of her was actually relatively okay with it now. This was survival, things killed other things and vampires were no different.

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

**Authors Note - Again, I'm sorry about the wait for this chapter but I finally got it done. I wish I could say the next update will be faster but I'm not sure when I'll be able to get it done, I'll try not to take too long with it though. I hope this chapter is worth the wait. **

**Saphire – **I'm glad you liked the vampire's name; there are many test subjects to come so maybe I'll name one Todd or Steve. Poor Laura indeed, it can't have been the best way to discover vampires are real but it's not the worst, they tried to feed on Teyla lol. There's more sparky in this chapter so I hope you enjoy it, thanks for the review.

**Fyd818 – **Yes, poor Laura, she had quite a shock didn't she but at least Carson is there to help her lol. I'm glad you liked Rodney's line and adding Ellia into the story, I wasn't to sure about that. Not wanting to die is usually a good think lol but yeah, Elizabeth has definitely come to terms with what she is now. It's good to know the update was worth the wait and I hope this one is too, thanks for your review.

**Sparkl**y – Thanks for the review, I feel bad for Laura too, it wasn't the nicest way to learn about vampires but it could have been worse. We don't know the vampire that turned John but we will learn more about it later. Lots of sparky in this chapter so I hope you enjoy it.

**Jammeke – **I'm glad you enjoyed the sparky in the last chapter and there's a lot of it in this one so I hope you enjoy it. It's good to know using Ellia worked, I wasn't entirely sure about it at the time. Thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **If you thought Chaya was annoying before just wait lol, I do make her evil in all my fics don't I lol. It's funny how anybody who gets in the way of my ships automatically becomes a bad guy in my head, besides it's so easy to imagine Chaya being evil. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter, there's a lot of sparky in it.

**Steph – **I'm looking forward to writing some of the Laura and Carson relationship in this story, it's going to be very different from the John and Elizabeth and the Ronon and Teyla relationships. Thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 19

John finished getting ready and was just heading toward the door to leave when there was a knock on it. He opened it and sighed inwardly when he saw Chaya standing on the other side.

"Hello John," she all but purred at him as she walked straight passed him into his room, uninvited he might add. She sat herself down on the end of his bed and stared at him with an expression that made John want to run as far and as fast as possible, he knew where this was going.

"What do you want Chaya?" he asked, hoping she wasn't going to say what he knew she was going to say.

"Well John, I think you should know the answer to that by now," she told him seductively as she stood up and slowly walked across the room toward him, swaying her hips as she walked. "I want you and I'm getting so very fed up with waiting."

She reached her hands up to run them over the shirt covering his chest and John grabbed them, pulling them away from his body and gently pushing Chaya back from him. The angry look she gave 

him left him with no doubt that he was going to pay for that if he didn't give her what she wanted but there was no way in hell he was giving it to her.

"I have to be somewhere," he told her "So if you could just leave."

The anger on her face more than doubled in that moment "I'm tired of waiting for you John; I've been more than patient with you now."

"Like I said Chaya, I have somewhere to be, so could you please go now?" he asked her and with a final glare she stormed out of the room. John knew sooner or later he was going to pay for that but there was no way he was jumping into bed with that woman.

He grabbed the book from the night stand by his bed and headed toward the library where he was supposed to have met Elizabeth fifteen minutes ago. He'd finished his book last night and she'd told him she'd find him another one to read, given that she had a habit of getting him interested in books he'd agreed, it gave him something to do at least.

* * *

Teyla knocked on Laura's door for what felt like the millionth time and once again got no response from the other side. She knew Laura was in there, she hadn't turned up for work that day and Damien had informed Teyla that her friend had called in sick. Even their boss had been worried, Laura never missed work because she was sick unless she was hospitalised or completely bedridden and even then she'd still be trying to get up.

As soon as she'd finished work Teyla had come here knowing the real reason her friend had been unable to face work that day. She knew it had been difficult for her, discovering that vampires really existed was bound to leave a person a little shocked. Add to that one of her friends being a vampire and the other killing one right in front of her and Laura was entitled to hide away in her apartment.

"Laura, I know you're in there," she shouted through the door. She needed to get in there and talk to her soon, she was supposed to be meeting Ronon in an hour and she had yet to go home and change out of her work clothes, skirts were not made for vampire hunting.

There was still no answer from the other side of the door and as much as Teyla enjoyed standing here she wasn't about to do it for the next hour. She reached into her bag and pulled out her keys, taking a moment to find the one that would unlock the door to Laura's apartment.

"I'm not leaving until I talk to you," she stated. "If you don't open this door in the next thirty seconds I'm gonna use my spare key and come in anyway."

There was silence for a few more seconds before Teyla heard the tell tale signs of the door being unlocked and a moment later it opened to reveal a very tired looking Laura. "Why didn't you just use your key in the first place instead of spending the last half an hour banging on my door?"

"I was being polite," Teyla replied resisting the urge to frown at her own response. Walking into someone's home uninvited was definitely impolite but really was banging on the door for half an hour much better?

"What do you want?" Laura questioned, there was none of the usual energy behind her words, just exhaustion.

"You didn't show up for work, I was worried," Teyla stated and Laura sighed, walking over to her couch to curl up with her blanket and Teyla took that as an invitation and followed her into the apartment closing the door behind her. She looked at Laura who seemed so small as she curled into the corner of the couch. The apartment was dark, the heavy, dark blue curtains were drawn completely blocking out the sunlight, the only light came from the small lamp in the table my the couch.

Teyla moved slowly and sat beside her friend who curled tighter in on herself as though she was afraid of her. "I know it's a lot to take in," Teyla began carefully.

"I don't know how you can just accept it," Laura stated shakily.

"I didn't, I had just as much trouble with it as you but you just have to keep going. Rodney, Radek and Carson are working on a cure and they're very close which means there's a chance Elizabeth can be saved," Teyla explained as best she could. At the beginning it had purely been the knowledge that this could help Elizabeth that had kept her going even when she was so afraid she just wanted to hide under her covers and never come out.

"Is she really one of them?" Laura asked.

"Yeah, I've seen her myself," Teyla replied solemnly.

"So she will have killed people too," Laura stated quietly and Teyla could only sit there in silence. It couldn't be easy for Laura to come to terms with the fact that both of her closest friends had not only killed but done it several times.

"Look Laura, I have to go meet Ronon soon but I really don't wanna leave you hear alone," Teyla began but Laura cut her off.

"I'll be fine, go hunt your vampires," she replied and there was an element of disgust in her voice that Teyla chose to ignore.

"Why don't you go wait at the lab, Rodney and the others will still be there," she suggested but her friend still looked uncertain. "You wanted to be more involved Laura, now's your chance."

"Fine," Laura said after a moment, standing up and heading toward her bedroom probably to change and knowing she only had a limited amount of time to do the same Teyla left the apartment and headed home.

* * *

"Elizabeth, will you come down from there," John stated as he stared up the 15ft ladder to where Elizabeth was standing. She was looking through the books at the top of the shelf to see if there was anything up there worth reading and he hoped she didn't decide to do this with every shelf in here. These ladders were old, barely used for years and John doubted they were particularly safe for 

climbing. "Elizabeth, it's a long way down and if you fall you'll hurt yourself," he tried to tell her, leaning a hand on the wooden ladder.

"I'm not going to fall John," she said as she flicked through the pages of a book. "Hmm, I think I might read this later, John catch this."

John had about a second between her words and the book falling in the direction of his head, he managed to catch it a moment before the heavy thing impaled him and put it on the shelf to the side of him. "No book is worth this Elizabeth, will you come down."

"I'm trying to find you a book to read John, you need to broaden your horizons," she told him and he looked up at her incredulously.

"Elizabeth, I'm a vampire, what am I gonna do with a broader horizon except run away from it when the sun comes up?" he questioned and heard Elizabeth laugh as she shoved a book back into place on the shelf.

"Okay, you win, I'm coming down," she relented and John smiled as he watched her make her way down the ladder. "There are plenty of other places I can look anyway."

John would have shook his head in exasperation if the ladder hadn't picked that moment to break, the wood snapped beneath her foot and Elizabeth fell the short distance that remained. Fortunately John reacted quickly enough and caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Thank you," Elizabeth said breathlessly as she got over the initial shock. John was still holding her in his arms and for some reason his body wasn't complying with the 'put her down' message his brain was sending.

"I told you so," John said quietly as he looked at her, his brain almost begging his body to put her down now and his body still refusing to listen. He felt drawn to her, like something was physically pulling him closer to her and he probably would have given into it if Elizabeth's voice hadn't broken the silence.

"You can put me down now John," she told him, speaking almost as quietly as he had and that seemed to be enough to get his body to behave itself and release her. He let go of her legs, allowing her to steady herself on her feet before releasing her completely. He ran a hand through his hair, stepping to the side to pick up the book she'd dropped on him earlier and handing it to her. There was an almost awkward silence between them for a moment.

"So, we still need to find me some books to read," he stated and Elizabeth nodded, turning away to walk between the shelves. John took a deep breath before he followed her.

* * *

The cold night air made Teyla shiver and she wrapped her coat tighter around her, trying to sink into the thick material. The street she and Ronon were walking down was completely deserted, the soft wind their only company. She was getting far to use to this, to wondering around dark streets in the middle of the night, searching for vampires no less. She understood Laura's change in attitude to her now, why the woman reacted to her so differently. She was a completely different person, felt like a 

stranger even to herself and she knew then that no matter what happened, whether she saved Elizabeth or not, there would be no going back, things would never be the same.

"Do you think I was wrong?" Teyla asked Ronon quietly "To get Laura involved."

Ronon looked at her; she already had a decent idea of what his opinion on the matter was. "No," he replied and she found herself completely surprised. "She was determined to know and if someone is determined to know something they'll find out, they won't stop until they do. She would probably have ended up on the vampire hit list like you."

Teyla had to admit, to herself at least, that she felt a little bit better, hearing someone say that she hadn't done the wrong thing gave her more relief than she'd realised she needed. She was so consumed by her thoughts that the sound of glass breaking in the alleyway beside them made her jump. In an instant Ronon had Teyla behind him and the wooden stake in his hand, Teyla reached for hers as they walked slowly into the alleyway.

It was even darker than it had been on the main street, there were no street lights, only the moon illuminated their way. They heard scuffling coming from somewhere in the shadows up ahead and rather than be surprised Teyla pulled out the small flashlight that had been in her pocket. She waited until they were closer to the source of the sound, not wanting any vampire that might be there to make a run for it if it spotted them too soon.

When she finally switched it on, the small circle of light streamed down the dark alley, hitting the pavement and trailing across until it found the forms of two struggling men. The one on top clearly had the advantage of more strength but the other was putting up an admirable fight. They both turned when the light hit them, the one on top snarling through sharp pointed teeth. Having found his target vampire Ronon stalked forward grabbing the vampire by the scruff of his neck and telling the other man to leave.

He scurried off the ground, running for the exit to the alleyway and unexpectedly grabbing Teyla's arm as he left. "Come on, we have to leave, that thing will kill us," he told her and though she knew he was only trying to help it somewhat annoyed her when he didn't release his grip on her.

"I'm not going," she protested but he continued to try and pull her, she wrenched her arm free and the man stumbled backwards at the loss of contact.

"Fine, stay here and die," he said as he turned and ran out of the alleyway, disappearing around the corner. Teyla barely had time to register Ronon's shout before she was knocked to the ground, her hands only just saving her head from what would have been a painful impact. She felt hands on her waist, pulling her beneath the vampire and forcing her to turn onto her back. She was met by hungry blue eyes and sharp teeth that lowered themselves to her neck. She felt the point of them against her skin even as she struggled to get herself free of the vampires iron grip.

At that moment he was ripped away from her and Teyla felt herself tremble as she forced herself to sit up. She instinctively reached a hand to her neck, praying silently that there were no puncture holes there. In front of her, an angry looking Ronon tossed the vampire against the wall, his head hitting the red brick with a sickening crack and he slumped to the floor. When Ronon was sure the 

vampire wasn't getting back up he ran over to Teyla, dropping down to her side and reaching for the hand that was still resting over her neck.

"Let me take a look," he instructed when she refused to move her hand, there was gentleness in his voice that had never been there before and she allowed him to move her hand. He ran his fingers over the skin of her neck softly and when he didn't immediately answer she feared that maybe she had been bit.

"You're fine, you weren't bitten," he told her and she sighed in relief.

"You're shaking," he stated, one of his hands still holding hers and she smiled weakly as she battled with the sudden urge to run back to her hotel and not come out until daylight returned. That had been closer than she'd ever come before, for a moment she'd actually thought he was going to feed on her and it had left her more than a little shaken.

Teyla took a deep breath and forced herself to relax "I'm fine," she stated once her rattled nerves were back under control and after a moment of appraisal Ronon nodded his head and helped her up. He walked over to the vampire and rested two fingers on his neck.

"It's still alive," he said. He grabbed the man throwing him over his shoulder and looking at Teyla. "If he moves, stake him."

Teyla smiled and lifted the wooden stake in her hand, waving it slightly in response before they headed for the lab.

* * *

Laura sat on the counter in the lab, watching as Radek and Carson cleaned up the remains of an experiment. She had no idea what they'd been doing but from the look of the smoking orange goo she figured she probably didn't want to know. How Teyla had managed to get herself mixed up with all these strange men she would never understand.

Radek walked through to the back room of the lab with the last of the equipment and Laura threw a nervous look at the door, the last time she'd walked through there she'd seen one of her closest friends help to murder a woman, granted she'd been a vampire but it had been hard to watch all the same.

"Are you alright lass?" Carson questioned, she hadn't even realised he was still in the room.

"As alright as I can be, I suppose," she replied as honestly as she could.

"I know it's hard to take all this in but it gets easier," he told her and she had to smile slightly.

"Do you really think you can find a cure?" she asked and Carson shrugged.

"We can't really know for sure until we find it but I'm hopeful," he told her, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder and Laura smiled again as the sound of the door opening interrupted their conversation and Rodney walked in.

"Why is she sitting on my lab desk?" he questioned in annoyance and looked like he was going to say more but Laura had already heard enough of him complaining over the last few hours and had become more than annoying now.

"Another word McKay and I'm gonna grab that stake over there and ram it up your annoying a..." Laura's words were cut off by someone else entering the lab.

"Have we heard from Ronon and Teyla yet?" Lorne questioned as he walked in oblivious to the threat he had interrupted. Rodney once again looked like he was about to say something but a glance at Laura made him shut his mouth and scurry into the back room. "Did I miss something?" Lorne asked as the scientist retreated. "I think that's the first time he hasn't greeted me with a sarcastic remark."

"I think Rodney may have just met his match," Carson stated and Laura smiled once again, suddenly feeling a lot more comfortable around these people than she had ten minutes ago. It was at that moment that the door opened once again and Ronon walked in carrying the body of a man over his shoulder, Teyla was right behind him watching the unconscious man warily, a stake in her hand ready to be used.

"Can we hurry, this guy's starting to wake up," Ronon said and Teyla's grip on the wooden stake tightened as the vampire twitched as if to prove Ronon's words.

Carson ushered them through to the back room, Laura followed a moment later after debating with herself whether or not she wanted to go in there again. Ronon and Teyla were already laying the man down on the bed, restraining his hands and feet. The vampire moaned, shifting slightly as it clawed its way back to consciousness. It woke up within moments of being fully restrained and after several seconds of getting its bearings he began to struggle violently, shouting to be released and threatening them when no one made a move to let him go.

Radek stepped forward, syringe in hand but with the vampire thrashing about he couldn't get close enough to do anything. "Hold him down," Radek ordered and immediately Ronon, Teyla and Lorne moved into action. Lorne and Teyla pushed his shoulders flat against the bed but the vampire continued to move his arm around, preventing Radek from injecting him with the serum. Ronon grabbed the thrashing appendage, holding it completely still despite the vampires continued struggle and Radek finally injected the serum. Everyone stepped back quickly when they released their hold on the vampire who continued to struggle for freedom.

"Now we wait again," Rodney stated.

* * *

John quickly slipped passed Chaya and her groupies unnoticed and breathed a sigh of relief when he made it around the corner and out of sight safely. He continued on his way to Elizabeth's room, knocking on the door and awaiting her muffled 'come in'. When he walked into the room he found Elizabeth sat on the couch with her legs curled up underneath her and book in hand.

"Let me guess, you're bored," Elizabeth stated without looking up from her book as he closed the door.

John shoved his hands into the pocket of his pants "Maybe."

Elizabeth smiled, her eyes still scanning the pages of her book. "You could read the book I found for you, you'd like it if you bothered to reach more than the first few pages."

"I will read it, I'll just do it in very small chunks," he told her and Elizabeth finally looked up from her book with an exasperated sigh.

"You're not going to go away are you?" she questioned and John shook his head in response. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and reached for her book mark, slotting it into place and closing the book, wincing slightly when the paper cut her finger. "Ow, paper cut," she complained.

"Paper cut?" John questioned when Elizabeth frowned and sucked on her finger, sending him a mild glare. "That look is all over a paper cut? You're a vampire; a tiny paper cut will heal in a few hours."

That wasn't really the point, Elizabeth thought to herself as she removed the wounded digit from her mouth to examine the small red slice in her skin. "And in the meantime it'll just sting."

"It's a paper cut not a gaping wound," John stated and Elizabeth proceeded to sulk.

"You know people think paper cuts don't hurt until they get one and remember the annoying little sting," she told him and this time John was the one to roll his eyes. He stepped forward and held out his hand.

"Let me see," he said and Elizabeth shook her head, putting the finger back in her mouth as though she was trying to hide it. "Let me see," he repeated this time more firmly and she sighed, holding the finger out for his inspection and watching as he studied it. He brought it to his lips, kissing the damaged skin. "There, all better."

Elizabeth for her part was busy trying and failing to ignore the tingling left behind in her finger which had nothing to do with the cut. John locked eyes with her and she noticed only then that he hadn't let go of her hand, he stared at her intently for what felt like an eternity and she couldn't bring herself to look away.

"John," she said quietly in an effort to break the moment but instead his eyes darkened with desire at the sound of her voice. He used the hand that was still holding hers to tug her closer, his other hand going to the back of her neck as he crashed his lips against hers. Any resistance she thought to mount quickly died away at the fell of his lips on hers and the realisation that she wanted this, wanted him and she had no idea when that had happened.

The kiss was brutally insistent; his tongue pushed its way passed her lips to explore her mouth as his hands did the same with her body. A voice in her head told her to pull back, that this could break the fragile friendship she'd formed with him but his hand slipped beneath her shirt, heat radiating from him into her cooler skin and all she could think was that she wanted more. She tugged at the black material of his top, demanding it be out of her way and she broke the kiss only long enough to pull it over his head. His lips were back on hers the instant he was free of the top so she had no idea where it went when she threw it out of the way.

His fingers were fumbling with the buttons of her shirt and he faltered briefly in his task when she ran her hands over the muscles of his chest. Moments later her shirt was gone and his mouth was making its way across her jaw and down her neck, he pushed the strap of her bra out of the way so he could continue his slow trail of kisses along her shoulder without interruption. The back of her legs hit the bed, she hadn't even realised he'd moved them toward it. He lowered them both down gently, his lips returning to hers in a slow, sensual kiss.

TBC


	20. Chapter 20

**Jammeke – **I doubt Chaya will be too pleased about Elizabeth and John; in fact she's going to have several strong reactions to it (is cryptic). I was waiting to write the last chapter since the beginning lol, finally I get to write some Sparky. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**XakliaAeryn – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you're enjoying the story and that you liked John's line form the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparkly – **I'm glad you liked the Sparky scene; I'm guessing that's what you got all excited about lol. I love writing Laura and Rodney, they make me laugh so I'm glad you liked their scene and I figured it was about time we saw a softer side of Ronon. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Steph – **Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Saphire – **I finally got to write some sparky n the last chapter, I'm lad you liked and Laura will come around to everything soon. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **I think John's line in the last chapter is one of my favourites I've ever written and it was nice to finally write some sparky in this story, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 20

The first thought that entered Elizabeth's mind as consciousness returned to her was that something wasn't quite right. Still being half asleep she couldn't figure out what it was and she forced her mind to switch on faster than it usually would to find the answer. She opened her eyes just as she registered the hand on her stomach and froze. She kept her gaze on the ceiling, terrified to look to her right for fear of what she knew she was going to see there.

Knowing she couldn't lay there forever she reluctantly turned to her side where, just as expected, John Sheppard was sleeping, his face half buried in the pillow and his arm resting loosely over her. It was at that moment she remembered her lack of clothing and held the bed sheet tighter to her as she sat up. Her eyes immediately scanned the room for the nearest available clothing, her panties were hanging over the back of the couch and her bra was on the floor nearby. She glanced at John nervously and prayed he didn't wake up in the next thirty seconds, darting out from beneath the covers she made a run for her underwear, putting it on in record time. She located her shirt and pulled it over her shoulders only fastening two of the buttons as she tried to find her pants.

Unfortunately a groan from the bed diverted her attention to the now awake John Sheppard and she wondered if maybe she should hide in the bathroom, given that she was still only wearing her shirt and panties. Her mind only just realised that she should have grabbed some pants out of the drawers when she didn't immediately find the others.

John opened his eyes and for the second time that morning Elizabeth froze, it took him only a few seconds to notice she was no longer in the bed and find her standing near the couch, and still, she couldn't move.

He sighed as if he could sense her thoughts, her panic, and sat up in the bed, his eyes searching the room as hers had. She knew his boxers were by her feet and she somehow forced her body to react. She picked them up and threw them to him wordlessly and they landed beside him. He pulled them on before standing up and she ignored her reaction to the almost naked man standing in front of her.

"Wouldn't happen to know where my pants landed would you?" he questioned and she shook her head. John continued to search around him and quickly located his pants on the floor near the door; he pulled them on and turned to her. "Look, last night..." he started and then trailed off.

Elizabeth felt incredibly uncomfortable, still having no idea where her pants were and unable to move enough to get some fresh ones from the drawer. "We could just... forget it," Elizabeth stated, she didn't want this to ruin the friendship they'd built up.

John frowned "Why?"

"Why what?" she asked confused.

"Why would we just forget it?" he elaborated and Elizabeth opened her mouth to answer, finding that she had no response and closing it again. "Do you want to forget it?" he asked her and she hesitated, afraid of the answer, before she shook her head.

"No," she managed to choke out, where had her ability to speak gone to this morning?

"Well neither do I," John replied and Elizabeth wasn't sure whether or not she was relieved at the direction the conversation had gone or if she wanted to panic even more. She'd only known John for a few weeks and now she'd slept with him, how was it possible that she already felt this much for him?

John stepped closer to her and Elizabeth surprised herself by not backing away, she wanted this, wanted him in a way she'd never wanted anything and she couldn't understand that, not when she'd known him for such a little amount of time. Though he seemed confident his eyes gave him away, now that he was standing so close to her she could see the uncertainty there, he was just as unsure about this as she was and the knowledge gave her a small amount of comfort. When he kissed her it was hesitant, as unsure as his eyes but that quickly disappeared when she kissed him back.

"I should probably go change," he stated when they pulled apart though he made no move to leave.

"You should probably find your shirt first," she replied lightly and John smiled, finally moving away from her and trying to figure where his shirt had gone, despite being the one who threw it, Elizabeth had no idea where it was either.

* * *

Chaya walked down the corridor, her hips swaying slightly with each of her graceful steps through the corridors of the vampire home. Some vampires moved out of her way, some of the females sent her jealous looks and most of the males sent her hungry ones, their eyes full of desire and she revelled in all of it. The women here would kill to be her but none of them were, in her opinion, up 

to her standards, none of them came close. The men all wanted her, she could have any one of them and that included John Sheppard, he just hadn't realised it yet.

She'd gone to his room looking for him again that morning, sooner or later this little game would be over and he would give in to the inevitable, she would have him and he would want her. Having not found him in his room she'd followed her incredible vampire instincts to Elizabeth's room, he'd probably woke up early and gone to find his pet.

She turned the corner into the corridor where Elizabeth's room was, she stopped when the door opened and John walked out, Elizabeth a step behind him. She looked closer at John and was fairly sure he'd been wearing the same clothes yesterday.

They were talking, she could hear their voices but wasn't close enough to hear everything they were saying; only the occasional word came her way. She stepped back, going around the corner and peaking out so that she could continue to watch them, maybe when John left she could catch him by surprise, get to him before he made an escape. He took playing hard to get to a ridiculous extent.

She was so shocked she almost stopped breathing when she saw John step forward and kiss Elizabeth, his fingers brushing one of her curls behind her ears before he stepped back. With a smile he turned to leave and Chaya ducked around the cover, moving away and hiding in the nearby storage room until John had passed.

How dare that woman put her filthy hands on John, that man was hers and no one else's. Why would John sleep with her when he refused to let Chaya touch him? Elizabeth was nothing, she had a certain prettiness about her but she was nothing compared to Chaya. She was going to have to do something about this; she always got what she wanted and would not be denied.

* * *

Teyla put the meals down on the table and turned around grabbing the empty plates from the table behind her and taking them through to the kitchen. She glanced at the clock on her way through, her shift was over and once she'd cleared any remaining bits of food from the plates she put them in the dishwasher and walked through to the locker room, clocking out on her way. The shift manager was stood just outside the kitchen talking to someone so she informed him it was the end of her shift and he smiled and nodded.

In the locker room, several people were either gathering their belongings or throwing them into the locker, their shifts ending or beginning. She opened her own locker just as Laura came through from the kitchen, looking worn out which she couldn't be blamed for; she'd been unfortunate enough to end up dealing with a very frustrating and indecisive family of seven.

Teyla pulled her coat out of her locker, putting it on before grabbing her bag and closing the locker. She searched through her bag for her phone, finding that she one text message waiting for her from Carson.

"Laura," she called to the blonde whose head was blocked from view by the locker door.

"Yeah," she called; it almost sounded like her head was in her locker. Teyla narrowed her eyes and walked toward her friend, stepping around to the other side of her to see that was exactly where her friend's head was along with the entire length of one arm.

"What are you doing?" Teyla asked and Laura's echoing voice replied from inside the locker.

"My apple rolled to the back of the locker, why the hell do they have to make these things not wide or tall enough but longer than your damn arm," Laura replied, straining to reach the fruit which had apparently escaped from her. "Ah ha, gotcha, you little beggar."

Teyla chuckled to herself and shook her head in exasperation as Laura withdrew her head and arm from the locker. She held the apple in front of her, glaring at it a moment before putting it back in her bag, placing the strap over her shoulder and finally closing her locker.

"Carson wants to see me in the lab, do you want to come?" Teyla asked and Laura nodded without hesitation, it seemed her friend was finally coming to terms with everything she'd learnt and seen in the last week. Teyla had to admit, she felt much better now that she didn't have to lie to Laura everyday and though with the all the help she'd been getting from the guys she had never really been alone in this, she felt even less alone now.

They left the restaurant, going to their separate cars and making the drive to the lab. There were a lot of other cars in the parking lot when then arrived so Teyla ended up having to park in the supermarket car park across the street. Laura parked nearby and they walked across to the lab together, finding Rodney's lab quickly and ignoring the few strange glances they always got from passers by.

When they arrived Ronon and Lorne were both there talking to the three scientists, they all turned when the two women entered. "Where've you been?" Rodney asked in annoyance, completely oblivious to the fact that they had lives away from the world of vampires.

"Working," Laura replied and Rodney said nothing else, walking through to the back room. Radek shrugged and followed him along with Ronon and Lorne.

"Rough day," Carson explained and gestured for them to precede him through to the back. Teyla sighed as she entered the room and saw the dead body of the vampire they had captured lying on the bed, still restrained.

"What happened?" she asked, almost annoyed at the vampire for dying.

"He died about half an hour ago," Radek told them solemnly as he stared at the body, the man looked peaceful, nothing like the snarling demon that had been shouting at them only yesterday, demanding to be released and threatening them with all sorts of torturous deaths.

"It almost worked," Carson said sadly. "It was attacking the virus, killing it off and we were already beginning to see the physiological changes, it was reversing the vampirism."

"So what happened?" Lorne questioned.

"We're still running some tests but we think the stress on the body might have been too much, the changes caused too much strain," Rodney explained, his eyes glancing briefly at the body but mostly focusing on the other people in the room. "We're so close though, we just need to find a way to compensate for the changes the body goes through, to help it survive them."

"Can you do that?" Ronon asked from the corner of the room.

Teyla turned to look at Laura, her eyes kept darting between the person talking and the body, she was clearly shaken but she seemed to be handling it. Carson was stood beside her, his hand on her shoulder in a gesture of reassurance and Teyla was grateful to the doctor, he'd been good to Laura over the past few days.

"I don't know," Rodney replied "But we can try."

* * *

Laura walked around the lab, bored but unwilling to leave yet. Lorne had been called away to deal with a case at work and Laura had to admit, despite her initial dislike of the detective she was warming to him now. He seemed to genuinely want to help; he didn't have to get involved in Elizabeth's case in the first place and had put himself in danger several times in order to help Teyla.

Carson she had instantly liked, he was a good natured man, very friendly and he had immediately put her at ease. Radek seemed to be a good man too, wanting to find a cure for vampirism both out of scientific curiosity and the desire to help. Rodney was a pain, always complaining about something but she got the feeling he was a decent man underneath it all. She was slowly getting used this new Teyla, she could still see a lot of her friend in there but the woman had changed a lot too, forced to adjust to the new situation she was in and Laura wondered if the same would happen to her.

The only person she was still unsure of was Ronon, they'd barely exchange two words, she didn't know him and she supposed that would probably have a lot to do with her uncertainty of him. There was something else though; something she couldn't figure out, a dark quality about him that Laura feared was probably dangerous. Teyla seemed to trust him though and that was enough for Laura, for now at least.

Ronon and Teyla were still in the back room with Radek and Ronon while they ran more tests on the dead vampire. Carson was in the main lab with her, running through the results of some other tests on the computer in the corner. He seemed sad and though she'd only known him a few days she didn't think that was normal for him.

"Are you alright?" she asked him hesitantly as she stopped her constant walking to stand beside him. He looked up from the screen, the sadness from his posture reflected in his eyes and she felt a sudden urge to make it go away, it definitely didn't belong there.

"It's never pleasant to lose a patient," Carson stated and Laura frowned, she knew Carson was a doctor but she hadn't realised he thought of the test subjects as patients.

"You're trying to do the right thing," she said quietly, wondering if she could convince him of that when her own views on the matter were still blurry to her. She wanted the cure to, wanted to be 

able to save Elizabeth but all these experiments, they were costing lives, whether they were vampires or not.

Carson stood up and walked across the room, leaning on the lab bench that ran across the centre of the lab stopping briefly before it met the walls on either side, allowing people to walk around it. "I'm a doctor, I'm supposed to save people, not kill them," he told her. "I took an oath to harm none but hear I am, helping to kill these people."

"You're trying to save them," Laura told him firmly, that much she believed without question.

"But at what cost?" he questioned and she sighed, the cost was exactly the factor that blurred her own opinion.

"This could save a lot of lives, give people back the lives that are stolen from them, I guess sometimes you have to do something bad to serve the greater good," she stated, her own thoughts becoming clearer to her as she tried to convince Carson. She understood Teyla now, understood the changes in her that had been frightening to see at first, Teyla had understood from the beginning that the cost, in this case, was worth the end result.

"Maybe," Carson replied, still sounding unsure but not sounding as troubled.

* * *

Chaya left her room with a smile on her face, closing the door behind and blocking the pleas of the mortal that was currently tied up in there. This morning had started out badly, discovering that John was sleeping with that woman had not been the highlight of her day but since then everything had gone much better. A few words to her father and she had got John assigned to the hit squad that was out tonight. They'd left several minutes ago which meant she could guarantee Elizabeth was alone.

The woman had only been here a few weeks and there was no way Chaya was going to allow her to move in on her territory. It would be easy enough to drive a wedge between John and Elizabeth, all it would take is a little manipulation and she was very good at manipulating people. A few well placed words, put the doubts in her mind and whether she believed them or not they would eat away at her, she wouldn't be able to ignore them.

She walked through the corridor, heading for Elizabeth's room for the second time that day. She found her target walking through the corridors as well, wondering aimlessly, probably bored; pets lose direction if their masters go away.

"Hello Elizabeth," Chaya said, her voice giving nothing away.

She was fairly sure that Elizabeth had sighed at the sight of her but Chaya chose to ignore it, the results of her plan would more than make up for it. Maybe when John was finally hers he'd let her play with Elizabeth, there was pleasure to be gained from seeing the pain of mortals, perhaps she could even teach John that.

"What is it Chaya?" Elizabeth questioned her tone almost polite.

"I was just wondering if you'd seen John," Chaya lied, knowing full well where John was.

"He was assigned to a hit at the last minute," Elizabeth told her.

"Oh," Chaya breathed as though it inconvenienced her. "I was supposed to be seeing him tonight," she stated casually and Elizabeth frowned for a brief second, covering up the expression with a speed Chaya had to admire slightly. "I suppose we'll have to rearrange."

"Rearrange what?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Tonight was supposed to be one of our special nights," Chaya sighed "Nights with him are my favourite, he's better than anybody else. He may just be another guy on my list and to him I'm just another girl but we do have so much fun," Chaya told her absently, like they were two girls chatting about their lives.

"I have to go," Elizabeth said, ending the conversation and walking away. Chaya watched her go, could see that Elizabeth didn't believe her but the doubt was there, just the tiniest bit and the more she thought about it the more it would grow and eat away at her. Her mind would try to reject the thought whilst coming up with more and more reasons to believe it. Her job was done for the day, perhaps she should go and find that vampire she'd turned last week, he was still so dazed it was funny.

* * *

John could only watch as the vampire was staked, the wood slamming into his chest and the man crumpling to the ground, dead within moments of hitting it. The hit had gone badly, very badly. They'd arrived to find that the Intel had been wrong, there were more people here than they'd been expecting and their seven person hit squad was massively out numbered. He'd known this hit was going to be dangerous, this group were one of the best vampire killing squads in Atlantis, they'd killed more vampires than anyone cared to count over the last two years and apparently their numbers had been growing.

He'd counted at least twenty three people in the warehouse and it couldn't be guaranteed that everyone had been here when the hit squad had attacked, unaware of the number of people inside. It had turned into a bloody battle after that, vampires and humans being killed brutally and John was sure the memory of tonight was gonna stay with him forever. There were few things that fazed him on a level that was hard to deal with now, he'd learnt long ago to handle the life of a vampire, the death that would always surround him. This was bloody though, both sides afraid but neither prepared to back down and it was the vampires that were gonna lose this one, two of them were already dead.

John dodged the fist that flew in the direction of his head missing him by millimetres; the culprit was a young man. Dressed in casual jeans and a lose fitted shirt he looked like your average guy but the shiny, black shoes didn't match the outfit, he'd been wearing a suit at some point, probably an expensive one, a business man maybe.

He may have learned to handle death but that didn't mean he liked it or that he felt nothing when he killed someone, for a hit or for their blood, it was still a life he was taking. The man swung for him 

again and John dodged it, using the opening it gave him to reach for the man's head, twisting it sharply and giving him a quick death.

No sooner had he rid himself of his attacker another one jumped in, this one wearing a track suit and trainers. He looked in his teens, eighteen, maybe nineteen, these guys just kept getting younger, how could they recruit kids for this kind of job knowing the risks that were involved. The kid tried to hit him but he was inexperienced and John dodged it easily still unsure if he was actually gonna be able to hurt this guy, he was barely out of school.

His distracted thoughts had left him vulnerable, someone else joined his attacker and John barely had time to register it as a man before a fist collided with his face so hard he hit the ground. Looking up through blurred vision all he could say was that this guys was blonde, a boot connected with his ribs and John let out a choked cry of pain, vampire metabolism or not, that really hurts. Another boot and another, he was fairly sure he heard the crack of his own rib at one point just before a third person joined the fight, a woman he was fairly sure. A kick to his head blurred his vision further but he had no problem seeing the shape of a stake in the hand of the kid that he had hesitated in hurting.

In a final desperate move, he turned onto his side, using his legs to knock the youth of his feat. He fell taking the woman with him and John scrambled off the floor, grabbing the stake and using it against his third attacker when he tried to stop him. He forced his eyes to focus through the blur enough that he could see what was going on around him. Four vampires dead now, the other two making a run for the door and John quickly followed dodging a fist and a stake along the way.

He made it out of the warehouse; the other two vampires only slightly ahead, one of them saw John following and shouted for him to hurry. The footsteps of human's still following him, using every bit of strength he had he picked up speed, thanking his vampire body for the extra speed that it gave him. They got away, lost the humans somewhere and made their way back to the vampire home. John's breathing was ragged, every breath filled with pain as his rib cage protested to the movement. His head felt fuzzy, his thoughts too hard to cling onto and he didn't try, didn't like the added pain it caused.

Relief couldn't describe what he felt when he walked through the subway and into the vampire home, barely able to stop himself collapsing on the stairs. The less injured vampire agreed to be the one to tell the council and John had no choice but to head for the infirmary with his fellow vampire, the man injured almost as severely as him. He stopped someone along the way, asking them to get Elizabeth, the only coherent thought in his mind being that he wanted to see her.

Once in the infirmary he was quickly ushered to a bed by one of the few nurses, a doctor walking over to him to assess his injuries. The light shone in his eye sent a stab of pain not only through his eye but through his head as well and he recoiled from it, the doctor muttering an apology before moving onto other methods of testing. After being poked in a broken rib and asked questions that he could barely answer the doctor walked away, telling him to stay where he was.

The blur in his vision was fading a little now and as he was trying to focus on the doorway Elizabeth walked through it, a look of horror on her face when she saw him. She crossed the room to him quickly and he managed a smile though he wasn't sure how convincing it looked.

"What happened?" she asked him.

"Hit went bad, we were too outnumbered," John told her wincing in pain as he tried to take a deep breath. Elizabeth stood there looking unsure of herself, like she wanted to touch him but was afraid of hurting him. He reached out and took her hand, the contact actually serving to make him fell better, mentally if not physically.

The doctor came back then, gave him shot of pain killers and fussing over him for a good fifteen minutes before he told him he could leave as long as someone stayed with him. Elizabeth hesitated for a second before she agreed to watch him; listening to instructions from the doctor that John couldn't grasp hold of.

"John," Elizabeth said quietly, her hand on his arm tugging lightly in effort to get his attention and make him move without hurting him. John got down from the bed and took hold of her hand again, not releasing it until they were at his room. All he wanted to do was curl up on his bed with Elizabeth and go to sleep; it was scary how quickly Elizabeth had become a necessity.

"You need to change out of those clothes John, they're covered in blood and dirt," she told him as he sat down on the bed. She went into his drawers, searching through them for appropriate clothing and handing them to him. He stood up to change and Elizabeth walked toward the door. "I'm just gonna go get myself some clothes," she stated but for some reason John didn't want her to leave yet, didn't want her out of his sight for a second. His brain was still to fuzzy to understand anything never mind why it was so important to him that Elizabeth be there.

"I have some clothes you can wear," John stated, opening a drawer and finding a relatively small pair of shorts and a top. She hesitated before nodding, taking the clothes and going into the bathroom to change. John changed while she was in there and got into his bed just as Elizabeth came out of the bathroom, the clothes were baggy on her but they weren't too bad. She was carrying a cloth and she sat down next him, running the damp material over his face where there was probably still blood from his few hits to the head.

She cleaned his face quickly putting the cloth to the side and lying down next to him, John moved closer to her, his had finding hers even as he struggled to find a comfortable position to lay in, damn cracked ribs.

TBC


	21. Chapter 21

**Kuroima – **I think Chaya is capable of just about anything so yeah, that would definitely be a problem. I'm glad you liked Laura's thoughts and the hit squad scene, Thanks for the review.

**Jammeke – **I'm glad you liked the last chapter, Elizabeth did handle Chaya well but Chaya also handled Elizabeth well, carefully planting the doubts in her head and then letting her own mind runaway with them. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph – **There was quite a bit of sparky in the last chapter and there's a little more in this one. I enjoyed writing the Carson and Laura scene so I'm glad you liked that, thanks for the review.

**Sparkly – **I want to slap Chaya too, maybe I can fit that into the story, random girl walks and slaps Chaya lol. Poor John indeed but I'm glad you liked the hit squad scene, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**HeartyJessica – **For some reason Chaya always becomes a bad guy in my stories lol, she just suits the role so well. I'm glad you like it and thanks for the review.

**Saphire – **Elizabeth doesn't want to believe Chaya but once he doubts are in your head your mind will run away with them, whether you like it or not. Chaya really is evil in this fic and she's going to get worse... much worse. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 21

Teyla walked into her hotel room feeling a wave of home sickness as always, she missed her apartment, missed being surrounded by all her own belongings. As nice as the hotel was it wasn't home and she had to wonder if she would ever be able to go back. It wasn't as though the vampires would just stop hunting her once all this was over, she would still know what she knew and whether she saved Elizabeth or not that would never change.

With a sigh she dropped her bag on the bed, taking her coat of throwing it on top of the bag. It was already dark outside so she closed the curtains, she'd been less nervous than usual coming home from work in the dark, it seemed she was finally used to all this. She went into her draws to find something more comfortable to change into than her uniform. She was just pulling her loose jeans out when the door to her room crashed open.

She immediately ran for her bag, pulling out the wooden stake that had become an essential, tucked between her lip stick and her purse. When at last she spun around to face her attackers she realised she was once again severely outnumbered. Three of them had come through the door and she was just weighing up her odds when two more crashed through the window, she was screwed.

One of the vampire's tried to grab her, she swung for him, her fist connecting with his jaw and giving her enough of an opening to stake him. She'd noticed two things in her fights with vampires; the majority considered themselves almost invincible so took reckless chances and they always underestimated her. You'd think after surviving so many attacks they might give her a little more credit.

The two vampires that had come through the window grabbed her from behind, one grabbing either arm. They tried to take the wooden stake from her hand but she refused to relinquish it, clutching the piece of wood tighter in her hands as one of the vampires tried to pry her fingers from around it and a third vampire moved into help him. Her attention was diverted to the final vampire in the room, he stepped up in front of her, his vampire teeth bared and she did the only think she could, she kicked him. Her foot only connected with his thigh but it was enough to make him stumble backwards, he looked at her angrily and was about to lunge for her when his body jolted, a look of surprise and horror on his face.

His body fell to reveal the wooden arrow in his back and Teyla looked over to the doorway to see Ronon, stood with his bow gun aimed at another vampire. He fired and the vampire released her as he fell to the floor, bleeding to death within seconds. The odds were in her favour now, two against two and with Ronon there she might as well sit this one out. All the same, her hand with the stake in was now free and she rammed it into one of the vampires, Ronon taking out the final one.

"Took your time," Teyla stated, glaring mildly at Ronon. "If I hadn't kicked that guy I'd be dead now."

"I didn't have to save you at all," Ronon replied and Teyla increased her glare from mild to serious. She could hear the sound of sirens in the background and closed her eyes in exasperation.

"How the hell am I gonna explain this one, if I get attacked by gangs anymore I'm gonna end up in witness protection," she said, staring out of the broken window, she could see the flashing colours of the police cars that were fast approaching.

"I'll stay," he told her and she turned back to him in surprise "I'll be a witness, the men broke in and tried to kill you and ... what was it Lorne said the first time, two men came in and saved you then left, I saw the whole thing."

"And I don' know who anybody is or why they were here, I'm not sure how much longer they're gonna believe that," Teyla replied.

"Doesn't matter if they believe you, they can't prove you know anything," Ronon stated and she shrugged, she was getting really sick of all these attacks.

* * *

John had been asleep for about eighteen hours, though hit had not been restful; he'd been tossing and turning, his body unable to find a comfortable position. Sleep had not been restful for Elizabeth either, John's tossing and turning had woken her up several times throughout the night and the morning. She'd finally given up on sleep around midday and headed for the cafeteria for food and to her room to change, when she'd returned John had still been sleeping. He must have been exhausted; his body had taken one hell of a beating.

Thankfully vampires healed slightly quicker than humans and she could already see his body repairing itself, the cut on his head was looking much better and would probably be gone within the next 24 hours. He was shifting around less so she assumed the ribs were healing as well along with the bruises that had covered his chest.

The sun had long since gone down again and she knew she should have gone out to feed tonight but she didn't want to leave John here alone. He'd been pretty insistent that she be with him yesterday and she didn't want him to wake up and find that she'd gone.

Her conversation with Chaya yesterday had refused to leave her mind, she didn't believe it, she knew how much John disliked Chaya but she couldn't let the thought go. What if it was all an act, what if he really was sleeping with Chaya and made Elizabeth think he wasn't so that he could bed her as well? What if she was just another girl, just another notch on his bed post? She hated herself for the thought, she'd like to think she knew John but really she'd only known him a month.

John shifted again on the bed and she could tell from the change in his breathing that he'd woken up. She watched as he silently reached out to the side of the bed she'd been sleeping on only to find she wasn't there. He turned onto his back, his gaze quickly finding her on the couch with her book and she forced a smile, putting the book down and walking over to the bed to sit beside him.

"How are you feeling?" she asked him, thoughts of him sleeping with Chaya flooding her mind without permission.

"Better," he replied "How long was I asleep?"

"About eighteen hours, I was beginning to wonder if you were ever gonna wake up," she told him, trying to keep her voice light but it sounded forced even to her own ears. She hated Chaya even more for planting these thoughts in her head but no mater how much she tried she couldn't shake them out.

John frowned, obviously noticing something was wrong and sat up with only a slight wince. "What wrong?" he asked her and she shook her head, forcing another smile.

"Nothing, you had me worried is all," she lied and John raised an eyebrow at her in disbelief.

"I think I know you better than that," he stated and Elizabeth sighed, did he know her better than that? How could he be so sure that he knew her when they'd only met a month ago and why couldn't she be so sure that she knew him? "Tell me," he said, his voice almost pleading with her.

"I spoke to Chaya yesterday," she admitted after a moment's hesitation and watched as anger briefly flickered through his eyes. "I ran into her and she asked me where you were, I told her you were on a hit..." she trailed of, unsure if she wanted to say what Chaya had told her next.

"And..." John urged and Elizabeth sighed again.

"She said you'd have to rearrange your plans... for your special night," she told him and John looked at her in confusion. "She said you were just another guy and she was just another girl to you but..." Elizabeth trailed off again, wondering why the thought that John didn't care about her hurt so much, surely she couldn't have fallen that deeply for him in such a short amount of time.

"Whatever she said is a lie and I don't know why she'd say it, other than she knows how much I care for you and doesn't like it," he stated adamantly and with so much honesty that Elizabeth felt somewhat stupid for letting Chaya get to her.

"What are we?" she asked before her brain could even fully register the words. "What am I to you?"

John looked thoughtful for a moment as though he was trying to figure the answer out himself. "I'm not sure but I do know I care for you more than I've allowed myself to care for anything since I was turned."

Elizabeth nodded slowly "I... care for you," she admitted as much to herself as him.

"Then how about we forget whatever Chaya told you and ignore all future things she says?" John suggested lightly and Elizabeth smiled slightly and nodded again as John leaned forward to kiss her softly, he winced again as his ribs protested to the angle they were being forced into and Elizabeth broke the kiss, putting a hand on John's shoulder to gently push him down to the bed.

"Rest," she instructed. "I'll go get you something to eat."

* * *

"And then they just vanished?" Lorne questioned, going through the formality of taking a statement he knew was a complete lie; he'd actually helped to come up with part of it.

"That's right and then Mr Dex came in to see if I was alright," Teyla finished, looking over to where Ronon was hopefully telling the detectives working Elizabeth's case the exact same thing. The two detectives were nodding their heads but Teyla could see they were both slightly suspicious and she couldn't blame them.

"Looks like these guys really want you dead," Lorne commented quietly with a glance over at the bodies that were being photographed by the crime scene investigators.

"I don't know why they consider me such a threat, I'm just one person," Teyla replied.

"They consider anyone who knows a threat," Lorne told her and Teyla shrugged

"I suppose I'll have to move to another hotel now." she stated.

"That didn't work so well this time," Ronon said as he approached the group. "I don't think those detectives believed a word I said by the way."

"Well, they keep finding Teyla surrounded by bodies with various wooden weapons sticking out of them," Lorne explained. "They're bound to get suspicious. Ronon's right though, another hotel is probably a bad idea, isn't there anyone you can stay with."

"I won't risk anyone else getting hurt because of me," Teyla stated, shaking her head as if to emphasise her point.

Ronon sighed as though he was about to say something he didn't want to "You can stay with me," he replied and both Teyla and Lorne looked at him like he'd just grown another head right in front of them.

"What?" Teyla questioned in surprise.

"You'll be safer there, the only person you'll be risking is me and I am more than capable of taking care of myself," Ronon explained and Teyla thought about it for a moment, she knew he was right, it made sense but she wasn't sure how comfortable she was with the idea.

"Okay," she replied hesitantly, even as her brain told her she should just get a hotel.

* * *

Chaya walked through the corridor with Michael, she wasn't particularly fond of the arrogant man but he had his uses. He was just a devious and manipulating as she was so the two of them got along rather well. She had been rather pleased with her performance for Elizabeth yesterday and had taken great pleasure in telling Michael about it.

She hadn't expected John to return from the hit so severely injured but with doubts festering away in Elizabeth's mind, Chaya could be the one to take care of John so she supposed it was a good turn of events.

"John, I really don't think you should be up yet," she heard Elizabeth say and Chaya interrupted her conversation with Michael to look up the corridor. With annoyance she saw Elizabeth walking down the corridor with John, he was holding her hand and smiling as he tried to dismiss her concerns. Why was Elizabeth still with John, she should be so riddled with doubts about what John thought of her that she was pushing him away not walking down a corridor with him and holding his hand.

She walked up to the pair, putting an extra sway in her hips and acting as though the scene before her didn't annoy her. "John," she called, drawing his attention to her. "I heard you were hurt last night, how are you feeling?"

She was sure John glared at her, it didn't matter though, sooner or later he would see the error of his ways and he would be hers. "I'm fine."

"That's good to hear, we should get together later, have lunch, hang out," she said, putting enough suggestion and innuendo into her voice that Elizabeth would hopefully understand her meaning.

"I'd rather stick pins in my eyes," John replied, much to the shock of everyone present. "I know what you're trying to do and you can stop now because I can guarantee it won't work, I have no interest in you and even less in your bed."

Anger flooded through Chaya like a tidal wave and she snapped her gaze to Elizabeth, wishing she could kill the woman with nothing but her glare. To her credit Elizabeth didn't even flinch at the look, she simply stood there and met Chaya's angry gaze. Getting herself under control again she smiled sweetly.

"I'm not trying to do anything here, you've made it clear to me that you're not interested and I have already shifted my own interest to another, you two look good together by the way," she lied, giving them another sweet smile before she walked back over to Michael.

"What was that?" he asked her and the sweet smile turned into a malicious one.

"Elizabeth Weir has yet to learn that nothing is denied to me, it's a lesson she's going have to learn the hard way. I'll make sure she understands the consequences of clinging to something that isn't hers," she stated, casting a look over her shoulders to where John and Elizabeth had continued walking.

John was misguided, for some reason he seemed to think he had to take care of Elizabeth just because he'd turned her. He believed that he should take care of his toys, it was something that Chaya would just have to teach him was wrong, once he understood that he'd no longer care about Elizabeth. In the mean time, she would just have to make sure that Elizabeth let go of him, when she was finished the woman would no better than to touch anything that belonged to Chaya.

* * *

Teyla was so surprised she forgot to move when Ronon opened the door to his apartment, she had almost been expecting him to lead her to a cave, not a studio apartment. The open plan layout made the place look huge, there were a few doors, probably leading to bedrooms and bathrooms. The wooden floors reflected the light and when she looked down she could almost see her reflection. The white walls made the room look even bigger and she had to admire the few large windows along one wall.

When she remembered that she needed to move in order to fully enter the apartment she walked over to one of the windows and looked down. The street was several meters below them, they were on the fourth floor and she could see quite a lot of the city from where she was standing.

"This place is... impressive," was all she could think to say.

"Expecting a cave?" he questioned and she snapped her head around to the amused look on his face.

"Yes, actually," she replied and he smiled, she had never really seen him do that before.

"Fire escape is through that window if you ever need it," he told her pointing to the window at the opposite side of the apartment. "My room is through there and yours is here," he continued opening a door and she followed him through it into a decently sized bedroom, plainly decorated and with only the minimum of furniture.

She watched as he put her bag down on the bed and gestured to the door at the side of the room. "There's a bathroom in there," he told her and she nodded her head, still stunned by the place which seemed to only increase Ronon's amusement.

"I'll order dinner, what do you want?" he questioned and her brain wasn't yet co-operating enough to think of a response so she shrugged instead.

"I'll have whatever you're having," she replied and Ronon nodded, walking out of the room. Teyla took the chance to let her brain play catch up, this place really was impressive, completely different from her image of stone walls and a fire. It was unexpected and for some reason that suited her idea of Ronon more than the primitive cave.

She knew so little about him, he'd saved her life more times than she cared to count, spent far too much time following her around and was helping her to save her friend, yet she hardly knew him. Despite this she felt completely trusting of him, she'd been unsure of him at first, he'd seemed dark and dangerous but over the last week she could honestly say there was no one she'd prefer to have watching her back.

Still the question remained, who exactly was he?

TBC


	22. Chapter 22

**Sparkly – **Poor Teyla just can't get a break but I'm looking forward to writing her staying with Ronon and writing a more human side to him. Chaya is a lot of very nasty things in this story and you're probably about to hate her more, thanks for the review.

**HeartyJessica – **With it being Chaya, of course it won't be good lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jammeke - **You probably don't want to know what's in store for Elizabeth but keep reading and you'll find out anyway lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Steph7085 – **Don't bite your nails, it's a bad habit lol. I think John has finally had enough of Chaya and her little games and yes, you're going to hate her retaliation. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 22

Teyla woke up in the still unfamiliar surroundings of Ronon's apartment, even after four days there she was struggling to get used to her new location. Ronon's apartment was nice but it felt even less like home than the hotel had, she wasn't used to the size; her apartment was small, warmly decorated with a few photos lying around the place. Ronon's home was the exact opposite, large, plainly decorated and void of any personal items.

After showering and changing she headed through to the main room where Ronon was sat at the breakfast bar eating toast and watching the news. The woman on the screen was talking about a missing person's case, a young woman who had disappeared two days ago with absolutely no sign of her. She'd been going home after a night out with friends, she'd only lived around the corner from the club they'd been at and so had opted to walk. Teyla caught Ronon's gaze, it seemed he suspected the same thing she had, the woman had been the victim of a vampire attack.

Every time she saw a missing person's case on the news now her mind automatically jumped to the conclusion it had been vampires. It was strange how she hadn't noticed how many people were reported missing before she'd found out about vampires, until her friend had joined the list. She sat next to Ronon and stole a slice of toast from his plate, she never could be bothered to make her own anymore, Ronon had already given up trying to stop her stealing his breakfast.

"You working today?" Ronon questioned and Teyla shook her head.

"No, thank God, they've had me working more hours than I care to count recently," Teyla told him with a sigh.

"Good cos Radek called, they want to see us in the lab this afternoon," Ronon told her and Teyla nodded her head wondering if this was going to lead to another round of vampire hunting, she had a feeling it would. On the plus side it meant they had modified the cure, one step closer to saving Elizabeth.

"You up for more vampire hunting?" Ronon questioned as though he'd read her mind "If you don't wanna go I can handle it myself."

"No, I have to go," Teyla told him more adamantly than she'd intended to and Ronon raised an eyebrow at her. "Sorry, it's just... I have to do this, for Elizabeth."

"It's okay," Ronon replied and Teyla cocked her head to the side, wondering again why he was helping her, why he'd gotten involved with the world of vampires in the first place, what was it that had pulled this man in?

"Why do you do it?" she asked, the question was out of her mouth before she could stop it. "What made you get involved with this world?"

Ronon hesitated, his expression a mixture of sadness and anger, she couldn't remember seeing that much emotion on his face before and almost regretted asking the question. "My wife," he stated, surprising Teyla. "They killed her, seven years ago and I swore that I would get revenge, that I wouldn't rest until every last vampire was dead."

There was silence for a moment, it explained a lot about him. "I'm sorry," Teyla finally said knowing she'd probably brought up memories he'd rather forget.

"Not your fault, you didn't know," Ronon replied, standing up to leave and Teyla watched him go, she felt like maybe now, she understood him.

* * *

John had more or less fully recovered from the failed vampire hit four days ago for which Elizabeth was grateful. She'd learnt something about John Sheppard in the few days following the hit and that was that even severely injured John Sheppard was not a man to stay still and do nothing. He'd caused himself more pain than had been necessary trying to get up and move around as if he hadn't broken and cracked several ribs and received a pretty nasty bump to the head.

She was on her way to meet him in the library, John complained they spent too much time down there but really where else were they going to go during the day? She was already late meeting him so she rushed through the corridor, not really paying attention to the people around her, which would explain why she didn't notice Chaya and Michael waiting for her.

"Elizabeth," Chaya said, catching Elizabeth by surprise and halting her hurried steps.

"Chaya, Michael," she acknowledged looking at them both warily, she had a bad feeling.

"We need to talk," Chaya stated and Elizabeth decided she really didn't like the tone of Chaya's voice and had no intention of finding out what the manipulative brunette was up to.

"I have to go, I'm late meeting..." she began but Michael grabbed her arm as she tried to walk passed them. She tried to pull her arm free but Michael tightened his grip on her, almost painfully."Let go of me," she demanded.

"This doesn't need to take long Elizabeth," Chaya said, stepping closer to her.

"What do you want?" Elizabeth asked, glaring at Chaya and once again trying to get her arm free of Michaels grip.

"I want you to keep your hands off things that don't belong to you," Chaya stated.

"What are you talking about?" Elizabeth questioned, having a fair idea of what the answer was.

"John, I'm talking about John, that man is mine and if you don't keep your filthy hands off him there will be serious consequences, do you understand?" Chaya replied and Elizabeth shook her head at the woman.

"John doesn't belong to anybody Chaya, least of all you," Elizabeth replied, giving her arm one final pull and managing to get it free from Michael. It didn't do much good, he merely grabbed it again, taking her other arm as well and dragging her into the storage room nearby.

"Last chance Elizabeth," Chaya said following them into the room and closing the door behind her. "Stay away from John."

"I'd say go to hell but we're already there," Elizabeth replied despite being terrified and Chaya smiled slightly.

"Have it your way," Chaya stated and nodded to Michael who released Elizabeth by throwing into the wall. Chaya's fist connected with her face and when she tried to fight back Michael stepped in again, knocking Elizabeth to the floor where Chaya kicked her in the stomach.

* * *

John looked at his watch; Elizabeth should have been there twenty minutes ago. He put down the book he'd been skim reading and decided to go and find out what was keeping her, it wasn't like her to be late. He walked up the spiral staircase and through the door that led to her room, he was half way there when the door to one of the storage rooms opened and someone stumbled out, their legs giving way underneath them.

It took him a moment to realise it was Elizabeth and he ran to her, dropping to his knees beside her. "Elizabeth, what the hell happened?" he questioned and she looked up at him, there was a pretty nasty looking cut over her right eye, another one on her lip, her nose was bleeding and he could see bruises already forming on her neck and arms, the ones on her arms looked suspiciously like hand prints.

"Come on," he said when she didn't answer him, he took hold of her arms carefully, mindful of the bruises and helped her to stand. She was barely able to support her own weight and John cursed who ever had done this to her when she winced as he wrapped an arm around her to help her walk. She was leaning most of her weight on him as he guided her toward the infirmary and he was practically carrying her by the time they got there.

She was whisked away by nurses as soon as they got there and John could do nothing but stand and watch as the doctor started to look her over. She looked worse than he had when he'd got back from the hit a few days ago, whoever had done this had really wanted to hurt her and though he had his suspicious he kept them to himself... for now.

He kept his eyes on Elizabeth as the medical staff fussed over her; she looked at little dazed and did everything she was instructed too absently. He could see more bruises and beginning to appear and 

his breath caught when she lifted her shirt, revealing some nasty bruising on her stomach sides and back. John clenched his fist, it was all he could do to keep from going to find Chaya, he knew she was behind this and if she hadn't done it herself she'd had someone else do it for her, either way she was responsible.

It was almost twenty five minutes before the doctor finished with Elizabeth and John was able to join her by the bed. The doctor gave them a run down of her injuries, cracked ribs, bruises and lacerations, several knocks to the head.

"Matching injuries is a little extreme don't you think?" the doctor questioned lightly "Most couples just get matching jackets or bracelets or... something that doesn't hurt."

Elizabeth smiled slightly and the doctor gave her painkillers and told her she could go as long as someone stayed wit her, he looked at John expecting him to volunteer, an expectation John was more than ready to meet. "Who did this to you?" John asked Elizabeth after the doctor had left.

Elizabeth shook her head "Can we just get out of here?" she questioned, her voice almost pleading and though John was far from done with this conversation he nodded and helped Elizabeth down from the bed.

* * *

Laura ignored Rodney's glare as she jumped up onto the counter and made herself comfortable, she'd quickly learned that it was best to just tune out the majority of what Rodney said and did. Ronon and Teyla finally arrived and Laura cast them a wary glance, she hadn't been pleased to learn that Teyla was now staying with Ronon after the recent attack, she still didn't trust the man, something about him just didn't sit right with her.

"What's going on?" Teyla asked, oblivious to Laura's thoughts.

"We've modified the cure and we're fairly sure that we've got it this time, as long as we keep the subject unconscious they should live through the transformation," Rodney explained.

"We've run some simulations and the results look promising, we estimate it will take a few days for the cure to take effect, the subject would have to be kept unconscious for the duration," Radek continued earning several nods from the non scientists present.

"How will you know when the cure's worked?" Lorne questioned.

"We'll have to run blood tests regularly, once enough of the virus is out of the blood we can wake them up. It'll probably take a few more days after that before the vampirism is gone," Carson finished and once again received several nods.

"So you want us to get you another vampire?" Ronon questioned.

"Yeah but not tonight, tomorrow," Rodney replied "My sister's in town tonight and I'm supposed to have dinner with her and her family."

"Okay, tomorrow then," Teyla said "You couldn't have just told us that over the phone?"

"Probably," Rodney replied after a moment, he shrugged and walked into the back room. Radek following him and Lorne shrugged.

"Now that I've wasted half an hour, I have a case to get back to," Lorne said turning around and leaving the lab.

"Laura, do you want to get dinner?" Teyla questioned "Ronon and I were gonna stop off at a restaurant on the way out of here.

"No thanks, I ate on the way here," Laura told them and Teyla nodded turning to Ronon and gesturing to him to leave. She followed him out, giving Laura a knowing smile though the blonde had no idea what it was her friend knew.

"You don't trust him do you?" Carson questioned as he flicked through a file and Laura turned her attention to him.

"I don't know," she replied "Do you?"

"I don't know but I'd more inclined to trust him than not, he's never given us any reason not to. He doesn't have to help us, doesn't have to keep saving Teyla's life but he does it anyway," Carson explained and Laura once again found herself nodding her head. He was right, she knew, Ronon had done nothing but help Teyla but still, there was something about him than made her uneasy, something about him that scared her. "You didn't eat lunch on the way here did you?" Carson asked her in amusement.

"No," Laura replied, she just hadn't liked the idea of having dinner with Ronon.

"Come on, I haven't eaten either."

* * *

John had brought Elizabeth back to her room and she had immediately gotten into bed and fallen asleep, her body would heal within a couple of days he knew but the sight of the bruises that covered her had been hard to witness. If he didn't want to stay with Elizabeth right now he would already have gone to find Chaya.

Elizabeth had yet to tell him what happened, she fallen asleep shortly after they got here and even in her sleep she was wincing and moaning in pain every time she moved. If Chaya was responsible for this he was going to kill her and anyone else she had involved, probably Michael but Chaya could get almost anyone down here to do her bidding through seduction or fear. In all honesty John knew that he couldn't kill Chaya, couldn't do anything to her, if he did her father would ensure he suffered, would probably bring Elizabeth into it just to punish him more. So maybe he couldn't do anything to Chaya but anyone else who had gotten involved was fair game.

Elizabeth was still asleep and John was sat on the couch keeping watch over her, an exact reversal from a few days ago when he'd been the one lying injured in bed and Elizabeth had sat on the couch, reading and keeping an eye on him. Elizabeth moved again and sucked in a sharp breath, the pain waking her up and John got up and moved over to the bed, sitting down next to her as she turned onto her back with a wince.

John reached forward brushing her hair out of her face and inwardly cringing at the bruise along her jaw. This was partially his fault, he knew he never should have provoked Chaya the other day, openly confronting someone who could do whatever she wanted without having consequences to worry about had not been the smartest thing to do which was why he'd never done it before.

"Does it look as bad as it feels?" Elizabeth questioned lightly.

"Worse," John replied with a small smile though part of him really did hope it looked worse than it felt. "What happened Elizabeth?" he questioned and once again she shook her head, not wanting to answer for some reason. "Come on Elizabeth, tell me who did this."

"Look John, I just want to forget about it, I don't want you getting in trouble over this," Elizabeth replied and John smoothed back her hair with his fingers, catching them on the small amount of dried blood.

"I won't do anything stupid I promise, just tell me who did this," John pleaded with her and Elizabeth hesitated, biting her lip and then probably regretting it when she remembered the cut that was still healing there.

"Chaya and Michael," she told him and John felt anger flood through him.

"I'm gonna kill them," John said standing up and walking to the other side of the room, unable to sit still with urge to hurt Michael and Chaya running through him. He heard Elizabeth's moan of pain and turned around to see her trying to sit up.

"You said you wouldn't do anything stupid," she reminded him, her voice quiet and strained and so full of pain that he regretted being the cause of her sudden need to move. He walked back over to the bed and helped her to sit up comfortably.

"Okay, so I won't kill Chaya, Michael on the other hand..." John trailed off and looked at Elizabeth, running his fingers gently over the bruise on her jaw. He leaned forward and kissed the corner of her mouth, not wanting to hurt her lip. "You should try and get some more sleep, it'll help you heal."

TBC


	23. Chapter 23

**Jammake – **John is always very sweet when it comes to Elizabeth lol and it's not over for the poor girl yet. I'm glad you liked the scene with Ronon talking about his wife, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph – **I'm glad you liked John's reaction to what Michael and Chaya did, as for them getting what's coming to them, you'll have to wait and see. You can call Laura and Carson going to lunch a date if you want to lol, they're not quite together yet but they're just naturally falling into it. Thanks for the review.

**Sparkly – **I thought Teyla stealing Ronon's breakfast was cute too lol and it seemed like the perfect moment to explain Ronon's motives. I'm glad you liked the sparky in the last chapter and the little bit of Carson and Laura. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Fyd818 – **I'm glad you liked John and Elizabeth finally getting together, it was great to finally be able to write and you'll have to wait and see whether Michael and Chaya both get what's coming to them, you may be surprised. I like those big apartments too and for some reason I could just see Ronon living in one, mostly because it would be so unexpected of him. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 23

"So," Laura began and she and Teyla sat outside the small cafe "How's it going with Ronon?"

Knowing her friend as well as she did, Teyla knew that Laura didn't like Ronon, she seemed to get along with everyone else, even Rodney at times but Ronon was another story. She wasn't sure what it was about the brooding vampire hunter that her friend didn't trust, she couldn't see any reason not to trust Ronon.

"Fine, you wouldn't believe his apartment, it's huge," Teyla replied watching her friend's face carefully. "What is that you don't like about him?"

Laura looked like she as about to deny it but then changed her mind and sighed "Is it that obvious?" she asked and Teyla smiled slightly.

"Yes," she told her friend who laughed and shook her head before becoming serious again.

"I don't know why I don't trust, he just seems like... he seems dangerous," Laura tried to explain and Teyla nodded her head in understanding. She could see why Laura would think that, anyone who didn't know Ronon would probably think he was dangerous, she'd thought it herself at the beginning. Now that she'd gotten to know him a little, he didn't seem dangerous anymore, angry maybe but not dangerous, at least not to her.

"Ronon is a good person, I don't ask that you trust him, only that you trust my judgement," Teyla stated and Laura smiled slightly.

"I do trust you," Laura replied. "Do you really think this cure's gonna work?"

Teyla shrugged "I hope so, it could save a lot of people not just Elizabeth."

"Of all the things I thought you were involved I have to say this was... no where on the list," Laura said with a sigh. "I can honestly say I never expected to find out that not only was one of my closest friend's a vampire hunter but another one was actually a vampire, it still sounds insane."

"You'll get used to it," Teyla reassured her as they finished their lunch and left the cafe. Teyla glanced around her, feeling somewhat uneasy all of a sudden, she couldn't quite figure out why.

"Are you and Ronon going to get another vampire tonight?" Laura questioned and Teyla nodded absently. "Well I don't finish work until after midnight so how about I head to the lab after?"

"Yeah, sure," Teyla replied, drawing her attention back to the conversation and ignoring the confused look Laura was giving her. "Anyway, what's going on with you and Carson?" Teyla asked, ignoring the weird feeling in favour of teasing her friend. She was only slightly surprise when a blush began to creep its way up Laura's neck. "Oh, you like him."

"I don't even know him," Laura retorted and Teyla laughed.

"That doesn't mean anything, he's a nice guy," Teyla stated, taking far too much pleasure out of the deep shade of red Laura was turning.

* * *

Elizabeth was incredibly grateful that vampires could heal quickly; it was something she'd been blessing too much lately, first John and now herself. It still hurt to move, the injuries were only 24 hours old and vampire or not, they'd been pretty bad. The cut on her lip was healing nicely along with the cut on her head, her bruises still looked pretty angry but they were at least beginning to heal and her ribs... well she would just have to continue to ignore them.

"I need to walk," Elizabeth said, her body felt stiff after spending most of the time since the attack in bed. John had been pretty insistent on taking care of her and while she would usually resent having someone look after her she didn't have the heart to tell him no, she knew he was at least partially blaming himself for the attack.

"Are you sure you're up for it?" he questioned and Elizabeth resisted the urge to raise her eyebrow at him, she was already standing up and searching for her jacket, she didn't really want to advertise the bruises still on her arm.

"I need to stretch my legs or I'm going to end up forgetting how to use them," Elizabeth replied, her tone light in an effort to lift the mood John had sunk himself into, it didn't help much. "This is not your fault John," she said, finally addressing the issue.

"I shouldn't have been so... blunt with Chaya, I was just annoyed at her for saying those things to you and didn't think about what she'd do in retaliation, she's not the kind of person to take kindly to 'no'," John said, annoyance creeping into his tone.

Finding her jacket Elizabeth slipped it on with only a slight wince and crossed the room to John. "I don't blame you so you shouldn't either," she told him, kissing his cheek. "Come on."

John followed her out of the room and Elizabeth decided this was going to have to be a slow walk since her thigh wanted to protest. They'd barely made it away from her room when they ran into Michael who looked at the two of them fearfully, trying to figure out how much Elizabeth had told John.

"Michael," John almost growled at the vampire and Elizabeth hoped the passers by would keep John in check, she really didn't want him getting in trouble because of her. Despite herself she stepped closer to John and unconsciously reached for her arm where Michael's handprint was still easily distinguishable against her skin. She mentally chastised herself for the open display of fear but then given that Michael and Chaya had beaten the crap out of her only yesterday she supposed she could let herself off.

"Afraid of something Elizabeth?" Michael questioned cockily, as though he wasn't absolutely terrified of the glare John was trying to kill him with.

"Understand this Michael," John began and Elizabeth could hear the dangerous undertone to his voice. "You're already dead; it's just a matter of when I decide to kill you."

Like the coward he was Michael scurried away quickly, John's glare following him down the corridor until he rounded the corner and was out of sight.

"I think I've walked enough," Elizabeth said quietly, tugging John back in the direction of her room. After a moment he stopped resisting and went willingly, she had a bad feeling this whole thing was far from over.

* * *

"He's gonna kill me," Michael stated somewhat shakily, "She told him who attacked her and now he's gonna kill me."

"Oh, grow a backbone Michael," Chaya stated sounding somewhat irritated with him but she wasn't the one who was gonna get hunted down by John Sheppard. She was protected by her father, if he wasn't one of the elders Chaya wouldn't get away with half the stuff she did. He knew that would keep her safe from Sheppard's wrath but Michael might as well paint a bullseye on himself and go taunt the man.

"You have to do something," Michael insisted, his life was on the line here and he wasn't above begging at that moment.

"What would you have me do?" Chaya questioned airily.

"Tell him that he's not to kill me, he'll listen to you, he doesn't have a choice," Michael tried to plead but Chaya merely laughed at him.

"I simply can't abuse my father's position like that," Chaya replied and Michael scoffed at her, she abused her father's position everyday, using it like a shield so that she could do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted to do it.

"You're just going to hang me out to dry?" Michael questioned and Chaya laughed again.

"Perhaps this will be a good lesson for you, help you build some character, honestly Michael, you're a snivelling coward, I can't associate myself with people like you," Chaya told him and Michael only just stopped his jaw from dropping. If this was how she wanted to be then that was fine, he'd deal with Sheppard on his own and the next time she needed his help she could go and find someone else to be her lap dog.

He left Chaya's room without another word to the woman, it would be dark soon, perhaps a couple of feedings would make him feel better, maybe a woman or two while he was up there. Then he'd come back and figure out what he was going to do about John Sheppard, he knew the man would make good on his threat if Michael didn't do something to stop him.

* * *

The woman was already dead; there was nothing they could do for her now so neither Ronon nor Teyla made a move from behind the tree line. The park was, according to Ronon, one of the easiest places to find vampires since it was the easiest place for them to grab a victim, some poor unsuspecting person who used the park as a short cut after dark, not knowing any better. The girl was once such person, probably in her early twenties, she looked like a student, had been carrying a few folders, the papers now scattered across the ground looked like they had math equations on them.

Her whole life had been ahead of her and this man had just stolen it from her, she wondered how many people like this Elizabeth had killed over the last month, how many lives had she stolen. Teyla knew she shouldn't be so judgemental, she'd killed plenty over the last month as well, granted a lot of those people had been trying tok ill her but not all of them. The young female vampire they had first captured for Rodney's experiments and the man that had died only last week, those were stolen lives as well, whether they had been vampires or not.

"Now," she heard Ronon whisper just before he stepped out from behind the trees. The man turned to face them, a few drops of blood around his lips from his latest feed. It seemed that many of the vampires knew who Ronon was, the man backed away, staring fearfully at Ronon who advanced on him. The vampire seemed to be weighing up his options, his eyes studying them, trying to figure out his chances in a fight, obviously he decided they wouldn't be good.

He turned and ran Ronon and Teyla following him but with his vampire speed they were going to lose him. Teyla stopped and changed direction, running out of the nearby park gate and hoping that the vampire was going in the direction she thought he was. The street was far better lit than the park and she could see a few people further down the streets, drunken kids heading home after a night out.

She ran in the opposite direction, alongside the metal fence of the park until she came to the corner and when she stepped out she came face to face with the vampire. He tried to stop but ended up crashing into her, knocking them both against the fence and Teyla pushed him off so he hit the floor. Ronon caught up with them at that moment and punched the man now lying on the ground, knocking him unconscious.

"Good job," he said somewhat breathless from his run.

Teyla smiled, as breathless as Ronon "Thanks."

"Let's get this guy to the lab, maybe you can actually get a few hours sleep before you have to get up for work," Ronon stated in amusement and Teyla groaned, she was extremely tempted to just call in sick.

"After you," Teyla gestured to the vampire and Ronon leant down picking him up and then looked at Teyla. "Yeah I know, if he wakes up stake him," she said, grabbing the stake from the waistband of her trousers.

The two of them made their way down the street toward the lab; thankfully it wasn't too far away. Teyla kept a wary eye on the man slung over Ronon's shoulder, the stake clutched tightly in her hand, prepared to strike if the man woke up.

"Get down," she heard Ronon hiss as he grabbed her arm and pulled her down behind a car. She saw the flashing lights of a police car driving down the street, it passed them by and stopped a little way down the road, two cops getting out and reporting through the radio that they'd arrived but couldn't find any sign of an attack.

"Somebody must have seen us," Teyla whispered.

"Let's get out of here before they find us," Ronon replied, moving around the car, he waited until both officers were looking the other way before he ran for the corner, disappearing just as one of the officers turned around. Teyla ducked down behind the car further, avoiding the flashlight that was being directed her way. She bit her lip, waiting for the cop to turn around again before she too made a run for the corner, joining Ronon and their unconscious friend.

"We should hurry," Teyla stated, receiving a nod from Ronon.

* * *

Laura parked her car at the side of the road, she'd been told not to use the lab parking lot since it was bad enough they were all sneaking around the building when it was supposed to be locked up. The security guy may be incompetent but there was no sense tempting fate, she got out and locked her car, walking the short distance to the lab entrance.

Before she could reach the door a woman stepped out in front of her, startling her enough to make her stop. The woman stood there and stared at her for several moments and Laura was about to walk passed her and hurry into the lab when someone walked up behind her, a man this time. She had a bad feeling she knew where this was going, had listened to Teyla recount enough of the attempts on her life to be fairly sure what this was.

Two more men approached, one on either side of her before she could make a run for it and she knew she was trapped. "What do you want?" she asked, her voice coming out stronger than she'd expected it to.

"You and your friend should have kept your nose out of places it doesn't belong," the woman stated and Laura swallowed.

The woman lunged for her, grabbing her by the arms and Laura struggled against her causing them both to fall to the ground. Her attacker was too strong for her, Laura knew even as she continued to try and defend herself that she was going to lose. The woman was on top of her and Laura surprised them both by somehow managing to make her fist connect with her jaw. Blood seeped from the woman's now bust lip and she grabbed Laura's hair in her fist, using it to pull Laura's head up from the ground and then slam it back down again.

She pinned Laura's arms to the floor at either side of her head and Laura ceased all struggle, completely froze when the woman bared her teeth, two sharp pointed fangs aiming for her neck. It was at that moment one of the vampires grunted in pain, distracting the female vampire's attention to where one of the other vampires collapsed to the ground, Ronon behind him with a stake in his hand.

Teyla then appeared almost out of nowhere, she lunged for one of the vampire's but the element of surprise was gone and he blocked her attack. The two of them started fighting and Laura took the opportunity to push the female off her. She turned onto her stomach and pushed herself to her knees, her first priority was to get away but she felt two hands wrap around her ankle and pull her back. Her arms went out from under her and she fell forward, her face hitting the ground painfully.

She tried to turn around but only managed to turn far enough to see the female vampire pulling her back. She kicked her leg free and watched as Teyla stepped up behind the woman and rammed the stake into her back. The woman's eyes filled with shock and fear for several seconds before she slumped to the ground unmoving. Ronon killed the final vampire and after glancing at the girls he walked away.

"Are you alright?" Teyla asked, kneeling beside her friend.

"No," Laura replied and Teyla nodded helping Laura to stand just as Ronon returned with a body slung over his back.

"I guess we got back just in time," Teyla stated.

* * *

Teyla, Ronon and Radek set about the task of restraining the still unconscious vampire while Rodney prepared the serum. Behind them Laura was sat on one of the counters, leaning back against the wall and holding an ice pack to the back of her head while Carson took care of the cut on her forehead.

"You should have called us, we would have come and met you outside lass," Carson stated, his concern more than evident in his voice as he cleaned the cut and Laura sucked in a sharp breath, pulling back slightly.

"Alright, what's this about someone getting attacked outside the lab?" Lorne questioned as he entered the room and then looked a Laura and grimaced.

"How did you find out?" Teyla questioned.

"Someone called the cops, I said I'd look into it on my way home, I figured it was you guys," Lorne told them and Teyla frowned.

"That's twice in one night the cops have shown up," she said quietly, that just seemed to coincidental for her liking.

"How did the vampire's even know I'm involved?" Laura questioned "I mean, it's not like I've been going out hunting with you guys, in fact I've been fairly quiet about it."

"Oh my God," Teyla breathed a moment later as realisation hit her, how could she have been so careless. "We were talking at lunch earlier; we were openly talking about all this at a cafe. I wasn't sure at the time but I felt like someone was watching me."

"That was during the day though, vampires can't come out then, they can't have heard us," Laura replied and Teyla sighed, leaning back against the wall.

"They have vampire servants, humans that do their bidding for them in exchange for immunity from them, no vampire can feed on them," Lorne explained, catching onto Teyla' train of thought. "That's how they keep finding out where Teyla is, they had their servants follow her during the day and report to them after sundown."

"I had to spend all day, every day making sure that no one was following me so they wouldn't find out which hotel I was staying at," Teyla continued. "I can't believe I didn't think about that earlier, stupid," Teyla chastised herself, how could she have forgotten so easily.

"There's nothing we can do about that now," Ronon broke in "Everyone will just have to be more careful from now on, including you," he said with a glance at Laura who nodded her head and then closed her eyes against the pain it probably caused her.

Teyla turned to where Rodney was injecting the serum into the vampire's arm "This guy has a tattoo," Rodney stated and Teyla resisted the urge to roll her eyes, they didn't really care if the man had a tattoo but Rodney read the word tattooed into the middle of the weird looking crest.

"Michael."

TBC


	24. Chapter 24

**Steph –** Thanks for the review, I' glad you liked Michael being captured and as for Elizabeth getting her own back, well you'll see lol. Laura has been a little subdues but given everything that's happened, it's expected, I'm glad you like the Laura and Carson scene and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **I'm glad you liked the last chapter, Michael is a bit of a coward and it serves him right that he got captured lol. I'm glad you liked the scene with the cops showing up and I hope you enjoy this chapter, thanks for the reviews.

**Jammeke – **Aggressive John is always very sexy lol; any threat to Elizabeth tends to bring that out in him. I'm glad you liked Michael being captured, thought I'd stick to canon just a little bit. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparkly – **I'm glad you liked John 'you're already dead' line, I could just hear him saying it. Portraying Chaya as the evil, spoilt, bad girl just comes so easily, she fits the role so well. They have to sneak into the lab because it's all supposed to be locked up at night. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuroima – **Poor Elizabeth and Laura indeed and the nightmare isn't over for any of them yet, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 24

Teyla listened to the sound of the engine as it tried to start only to die yet another death, she groaned in frustration and leant her forehead against the steering wheel. Why now, why did her car have to decide it wasn't going to work on the morning she was already running late for work? This was just so completely typical of her life at the moment.

"Aren't you gonna be late?" Ronon's voice questioned and she resisted the urge to hit him, instead she lifted her head from the steering wheel and glared at Ronon's face as he stood by her window.

"My damn car won't start," she stated and he smirked and opened the door.

"Come on, I'll drive you and I'll take a look at your car for you later," he offered and she smiled gratefully as she got out of the car and followed him to his. She hadn't quite got used to this side of Ronon yet, he seemed a little more mellow than when he was out hunting vampires, not hugely more mellow but enough that she noticed. It was a side of him that she liked and one that she would like to see more often.

Teyla got in his car and was about to turn the radio on when she thought better of it, there taste in music had proven to be massively different, she preferred quieter, softer music, he preferred the opposite, it had caused a fair few arguments when they'd been channel hopping through the music channels.

"What are you gonna do all day?" she asked him, it seemed that hunting down vampires was his only job, the daytime was his to do with as he pleased.

"I was gonna go to the gym but I'll probably just take a look at your car now, if I can't fix it I'll call someone," he told her and she nodded her head, having been to the gym with him once she had decided it wasn't a place she wanted to go again. The gym itself was nice but every woman in there had been ogling Ronon the second they'd walked in and it had actually been rather annoying, she wasn't exactly sure why but it had irritated her to no end.

When they finally arrived at the restaurant, Teyla was glad to see she was only a few minutes late, Ronon pulled the car up outside the door. The few stragglers were still making their way inside; a couple of people were still stood by the back entrance smoking.

"What time do you finish?" Ronon questioned and Teyla had to think for a moment.

"1 o clock," she told him.

"I'll pick you up here," he stated and she nodded her head, giving him another grateful smile before she got out of the car. Ronon drove away and as she approached the employee entrance she could see the two women there watching the car disappear.

"Nice one Teyla," one of them said, brushing her messy brown hair behind her ear.

"I gotta say, didn't think you'd grab yourself a man that fine and that is one hell of a car," the other continued and Teyla looked at them in confusion for a moment until she realised what hey meant.

"No, he's not..." she began but was cut off by Damien.

"Come on girls, shift started five minutes ago," he reminded them and Teyla ran passed him toward the locker room.

* * *

Elizabeth was looking a lot better now, she'd more or less completely healed over the last few days, there was just a faint bruise left on her arm and John had to wonder how hard Michael had grabbed her that even with her vampire healing the bruise from his hand was still visible. Other than that there was no sign of the attack on her, she'd been a little jumpy in the couple of days that followed but even that seemed to be gone now.

Strangely Michael had disappeared, no one had seen him for three days now and in all honesty John couldn't care less what had happened to him. Elizabeth had asked him several times if he'd had anything to do with it and he'd told her that unfortunately the answer was no. She seemed to have accepted it as truth now but he was still getting several suspicious stares from other vampires who had obviously heard what happened to Elizabeth and were assuming they had something to do with Michael.

Feeling something hit him in the side of his head John pulled his attention out of his thoughts and to Elizabeth who was still holding the bowl of popcorn in her hands. He had no idea why she'd suddenly wanted popcorn but she'd insisted that she have some, said something about it being one of her favourite things to eat and she missed it, he'd gone to the cooks and somehow managed to come away with popcorn.

She was now sitting cross legged on her bed, bowl in her lap, eating away and only letting him have the occasional handful. Looking down he saw a piece of popcorn stuck to his jacket and pulled it off, shoving it in his mouth and narrowing his eyes at her.

"Did you just throw popcorn at me?" he questioned.

"You were thinking too much," she replied with a laugh.

"You are accusing me of thinking too much?" he asked her incredulously, if anyone here thought too much it was her.

"I didn't say I didn't think too much but that doesn't mean you can do it too," she told him and he couldn't help but laugh as he reached for the popcorn. She moved the bowl out of his reach, a possessive look on her face that made him raise his eyebrow.

"Oh, so you can throw this stuff at me but I'm not allowed to eat it," he said and she nodded her head, tossing another piece of popcorn at him which he easily caught and ate. "I don't think that's entirely fair."

"Life's not fair," she replied stubbornly, she smiled when he glared at her and he realised something then, right in that moment and he'd been so unprepared for it that for a few seconds he couldn't even speak. He was in love with her, he wasn't sure how that had happened or even when, they'd only met a month ago but somewhere along the way he'd actually gone and fallen in love with her. "John, are you alright?" Elizabeth asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Yeah," John managed to say.

"Are you sure? You kind of look a little dazed... if you want the popcorn that bad I'll give it you," she told him earning a smile, he pushed his other thoughts to the side, they were best left alone for now. Grabbing a handful of popcorn he threw all of it at her, she stared at him in open mouthed shock as he gave her an innocent look.

"What goes around comes around," he told her leaning forward to pull a piece of popcorn out of her hair. He kissed her before he made himself comfortable again, she was still pulling bits of popcorn off her and he used her distraction to steal the bowl, watching her as he ate the popcorn.

* * *

Laura was bored.

That wasn't true, she was more than bored, there wasn't even a word for how bored she was. It was her day off work and she actually had nothing to do, she wondered briefly what that said about her. Rather than stay at home and continue to drive herself crazy she had come to the lab, she could find it easily now that she'd been here a few times.

Carson was sat on a lab stool, leaning over a microscope oblivious to her presence, she thought about making him jump but with a vampire still in the lab that would probably have been rather mean. Instead she walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Rodney, I told you I'll be done when I'm..." he started in annoyance but then realised it wasn't Rodney standing next to him. "Laura, love, I'm sorry, I thought you were Rodney."

"That's okay, if I had to deal with Rodney on a daily basis I think I'd go crazy too," she told him and Carson smiled and shook his head.

"He's not that bad... most of the time," he replied and she shrugged, she wasn't sure how much truth there was in that. "What brings you here anyway?"

"I was bored," Laura admitted "I figured I'd come down here and see how everything is going."

"Well Michael is still unconscious, which is exactly how we want him. He's hooked up to an IV so we can keep him alive and unconscious. We did some blood tests this morning and everything looks good so far, there's been a definite decrease in the amount of the virus left in his blood. He's not out of the woods yet though, his body is under a lot of strain, the next couple of days she tell us whether we got it right this time," he explained, hope in his voice toward the end.

"So this could be the last experiment," she stated, knowing how relieved Carson would be if he didn't lose another patient over this.

"I hope so," he said quietly. "I was gonna go for lunch in half an hour, if you want to hang about until then we can go and get something to eat, relieve your boredom."

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

Elizabeth ignored John's protests as she headed toward the library; he was dragging his feet behind her and continuing to complain that they spent too much time down there. She pushed the large wooden door open and allowed it to almost close on John; it at least shut him up for a moment though if the glare was any indication he wasn't impressed.

"You don't have to come down here with me you know," she pointed out to him as she tried not to laugh.

"Who would I annoy then?" he questioned as if it was the most absurd thing he'd ever heard. She was about to respond when the door opened again, a familiar figure walking into the room. Elizabeth took several steps toward John who was glaring at the woman; she grabbed his hand as much to stop him doing something he'd regret as anything else.

"How cosy," Chaya stated with a look around the library and Elizabeth really wasn't all that surprised that the woman had never been down here. "Didn't have you down as the library type John."

"What do you want Chaya?" Elizabeth questioned when it became apparent that John was too busy holding back insults to respond. Chaya sent her an icy glare but softened it almost immediately and smiled sweetly.

"Elizabeth, dear, I heard you were attacked, I do hope you're feeling better," she stated and Elizabeth was tempted to hit the woman herself never mind stop John from doing it. She felt John's 

hand tighten around hers from the shear effort of remaining where he was, she moved her free hand to his as well, running her fingers over his knuckles and stepping closer to him.

"I'm feeling much better actually," she replied with a smile of her own.

"That's wonderful to hear," Chaya said, sarcasm barely detectable underneath her tone.

"Now John I actually came to ask you something," she said turning her attention toward him; she took a step closer to him and consequently closer to Elizabeth. She mentally chastised herself for once again openly showing her fear but she stepped back instinctively and Chaya smiled, obviously that pleased her and left John much more open.

She put her hand on John's chest "What did you do with poor Michael?" she asked him and John let go of Elizabeth's hand to gently push Chaya back.

"I didn't do anything to Michael, unfortunately he disappeared before I could get my hands on him," John stated. "Though I'm sure you have no idea why I might have been tempted to kill him along with anyone had been with him at the time, probably the person who roped him into attacking Elizabeth in the first place."

Anger flickered across Chaya's face and she pinned Elizabeth with a dangerous look that had Elizabeth taking yet another involuntary step backward. She considered herself to be a fairly brave person, more likely to stand up to things that frightened her than back down but she wasn't stupid. Chaya had already kicked the crap out of her and gotten away with it and she had no doubt that the woman would have no problem doing it again and probably doing it worse just to make sure the message got through this time.

"Well, whoever was responsible for that attack, they obviously had no fear of the consequences, they probably don't have to worry about things like that so let's hope they don't have any reason to do it again," Chaya stated as though she'd been reading her mind and Elizabeth watched as John clenched his fists, barely keeping himself still and his mouth shut.

Chaya smiled and walked out of the room, the door closing with a thud behind her and for a moment there was complete silence as neither John nor Elizabeth moved. Chaya's parting words had been a very obvious threat, Elizabeth hadn't given into Chaya's demands and she knew there was going to be a round two if she didn't do it soon.

"Elizabeth," John's voice broke her thoughts and she tried to smile reassuringly though she wasn't entirely sure it had worked. The thought of giving John up hurt more than she knew it should, she couldn't do it, even if it meant taking another beating from Chaya and whatever lackeys she managed to coerce into it with her.

"I'm fine," she told him as he reached out for her hand. "You promised not to do anything stupid remember," she reminded him; just to be sure he wasn't harbouring plans to chase Chaya out of the room.

"And I won't," he replied.

* * *

Everyone was already at the lab when Ronon and Teyla arrived, they were all gathered around the lab bench in the centre of the room and they turned around when they heard the door open. "About time," Rodney stated.

"What was so urgent?" Teyla questioned, ignoring Rodney's statement and looking at Carson and Radek instead.

"You should all come though to the back," Radek told them and lead the group through the door.

Sitting on the bed was the vampire they had captured the other night, his hands and feet were still restrained but he had somehow managed to sit up comfortably. He glared at them all as they entered the room and Teyla looked over to Carson.

"It worked?" she questioned, wanting to be sure before she let her mind jump to conclusions.

"It would seem so," Carson replied "He's been trying to grow out his vampire teeth and feed on us since he woke up an hour ago, so far he's had no luck."

The vampire hissed diverting everyone's attention to him, Rodney had shined a UV light on him and it had caused a small burn to appear on the man's arm. "Rodney!" Carson exclaimed.

"He's still allergic to sunlight and we're guessing it's the same with garlic," Rodney told them.

"We already knew that," Radek stated "The chemicals in his blood that cause the allergies haven't completely washed out yet. You didn't really need to shine the light on him."

"Sorry," Rodney mumbled.

"What do we do with him now?" Laura questioned.

"If he's willing to co-operate I can get him set up with a new life," Lorne told them and Teyla turned to look at the man, walking toward him.

"Michael right?" she questioned and after several moments where he continued to glare at her he nodded. "Do you want that?"

"You had no right to bring me here, no right to turn me into a filthy mortal," he told her in disgust and she nodded her head.

"Perhaps we did not but that doesn't change the fact that we did," she stated, taking another step closer to him. She was aware of Ronon slowly walking up behind her; she could almost feel the glare he was directing at the former vampire.

"Return me to my people," he ordered but Teyla shook her head.

"We can't do that," she replied "I don't think they would all take too kindly to knowing there's a cure here. We can give you a new life though, no more hiding in the dark."

"I was happy as a vampire," he told her and for the first time since this had begin Teyla actually felt bad about it, she had not considered that some, maybe even most vampires would not want to be changed back. "But it would seem I do not have a choice, I can't return t the vampire home now."

"Wanna tell us where that is?" Lorne questioned.

"Never," Michael replied and Teyla knew Lorne had not been expecting to get an answer, the location of the vampire home seemed to be there most closely guarded secret, vampires would rather die than give up its location. She sighed; they were one step closer to saving Elizabeth, now they just had to find her.

TBC


	25. Chapter 25

**Sparkly – **Ronon and Teyla are always cute lol but yeah, it's really starting to show now and neither of them even realises. Elizabeth's on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster still, I don't think she's quite ready to admit, even to herself, that she loves John. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Saphire – **Thanks for the review, I debated what I wanted Ronon's home to be like but I decided that unexpected suited him more than anything else. Poor Elizabeth is not having an easy time and unfortunately there is worse to come lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **I probably would have been one of those women too lol but I'm glad you liked Teyla thoughts on it and her co-workers reactions. I really enjoyed writing the popcorn scene and John's realisation that he loved her. I tried to keep some canon on there with the whole Michael thing, glad that worked out, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jammeke – **I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter; it's been one of my favourites to write so far. I hope you enjoy this chapter too and thanks for the review.

**Wormhole – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you're enjoying the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

**Steph -** I'm glad you enjoed the last chapter, thanks for the review.

**Kuroima - **The popcorn scene was a lot of fun to write, I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 25

"It's freezing," Laura complained for the millionth time and Teyla rolled her eyes as she tried to ignore her friend. "Really, it's freezing."

"You did not have to come," Teyla reminded her friend, she wasn't entirely sure why Laura had suddenly wanted to accompany Ronon and Teyla in their nightly searches. They'd been coming out here every night for a week now hoping to find Elizabeth, the chances that they would just run into her were small but they had to try. They needed to tell her about the cure, it had been completely successful on Michael, the sunlight allergy had worn off after a few days and Lorne had set him up with a new life.

"Yeah so I could have sat at home all night wondering if you'd found her, tried that already, it wasn't fun," Laura replied sarcastically, she was spending too much time around Rodney.

"We're not out here to have fun," Ronon stated and Laura glared at his back. At least Laura seemed to have put her distrust of Ronon behind them if not her dislike.

"I know that," she snapped and wrapped her coat tighter around herself as they continued to walk through the streets. Teyla had to admit, it was unusually cold tonight, fortunately all the walking was keeping her relatively warm.

"Teyla," she heard Ronon say and decided she didn't like the tone of his voice; she picked up her pace to catch up with him. He was stood staring down the dark street at the couple that was walking by; it took Teyla another second to notice the two people following them and another to recognise them, Elizabeth and the male vampire she was always with.

The two of them were following the couple and Teyla felt a wave of sickness wash through her at the knowledge of why. They were going to attack them, feed on them; Elizabeth was following these people so she could have their blood.

"Oh my God," she heard Laura say beside her and she turned to look at her friend who had turned completely pale. It was the first time Laura had seen Elizabeth since she'd found out what had happened to her and Laura had not yet come to terms with all the killing, it had to be hard on her.

"Elizabeth," Teyla shouted when the young couple made what would have – at any other time – been there fatal mistake. Elizabeth turned to look at her and the cold look in her friend's eyes made Teyla shiver. The other vampire looked at them as well, once again recognising Ronon and stepping in front of Elizabeth, the protective move surprised Teyla.

She walked over to them, Laura and Ronon following and she could hear the rustle of fabric as Ronon pulled a stake from his coat; she really hoped he didn't find a reason to use it. Neither Elizabeth nor the other vampire moved, both of them warily watching the group come closer and Teyla suddenly felt afraid, not of Elizabeth but of what she would say to the cure. It all came down to this moment, everything she'd worked for could have been for nothing if her friend chose the other side, if she had truly died the day she was bitten.

"What are you doing here?" Elizabeth questioned, she sounded almost angry.

"The same as last time, looking for you," Teyla replied and Elizabeth's gaze turned to Laura who said nothing.

"And you dragged her into this too; having your own name on the hit list wasn't enough?" Elizabeth asked sarcastically and Teyla had to remind herself that this was Elizabeth, her friend; if she hadn't looked the same Teyla would never have been able to tell.

"Laura got involved on her own, we have something we need to tell you," Teyla stated and when Elizabeth didn't comment she continued. "There's a cure."

The faces of both vampires faltered at that, they looked at each other for a second and then back at Teyla. "What do you mean a cure?" the male vampire asked.

"Vampirism is caused by a virus and we have the cure for it," Teyla explained "We know it works we just used it on a vampire and now he's human again."

"This vampire have a name?" the man asked.

"Michael," Teyla told them and watched the two completely different reactions, the male vampire looked angry, Elizabeth just surprised but Teyla was sure there was the tiniest trace of fear there as well.

"That explains why he went missing," Elizabeth said quietly, stepping closer to the man. "How do we know you're telling the truth?"

Teyla really hoped she was asking that out of an interest in taking the cure "You don't, you just have to trust me."

"Whether it's true or not, you should keep it t yourselves," Elizabeth told them after a moment, anger creeping back into her voice again "Something like that could get you killed."

"That a threat?" Ronon questioned stepping forward, stake in hand. The male vampire moved Elizabeth behind him and Teyla quickly reached her hand out to grab Ronon's arm, stopping him from going any further.

"Let's just get out of here John," Elizabeth said and after a moment of glaring at Ronon the vampire nodded his head and the two of them walked away, disappearing into he darkness and Teyla sighed, she'd been hoping that would go a lot better than it had.

* * *

The fire cast an orange glow of the otherwise dark library, the shadows dancing around as though they were alive. Elizabeth watched the flames flickering as John threw another piece of wood onto the fire to keep it going. They'd barely spoken since they'd got back, they were both too wrapped up in their own thoughts, their minds racing with the knowledge that they'd gained.

A cure, this was nothing more than a virus and there was a cure for it, a chance to go back to having normal lives. Could they go back though? How could they walk back into a world they had left behind, John had left it behind eight years ago, could he just return to his family, his friends and tell them what had happened, why he hadn't aged a day in eight years. They'd never believe it, nobody who hadn't seen it for themselves would ever believe this world existed.

She hugged her knees tighter to her chest and looked at John; he was sat beside her on the couch, a thoughtful look on his face as he gazed at the fire. Would he even want t go back, would she?

"What are you thinking?" she asked him, finally breaking the silence that had settled over them and he turned his head to look at her.

"I don't know," he replied and smiled slightly.

"Me neither," she almost whispered "A cure," she said, it was the first time they'd actually said the words since they'd left Teyla and the others. "A month ago I would have jumped at the chance to go back to being human but now..."

"It's a lot harder when you've accepted what you are," John finished for her and she nodded her head.

"Must be harder for you, you've been a vampire for years, I've only been a vampire for what... six weeks," she stated. "God, is that all, it feels like a life time," she continued, she couldn't believe it hadn't even been two months since she was turned, so much had happened in such a short amount of time, everything had changed so fast.

"Would you want to take it?" John asked her and Elizabeth shrugged.

"I really don't know."

* * *

Teyla had been more than grateful that she'd had the day off work, she'd slept through the entire morning and part of the afternoon, even when she'd woke up she hadn't wanted to get out of bed, hadn't wanted to face the day. She'd done everything she could now, she'd helped to find a cure and found Elizabeth, the ball was in her court now, the only problem was Elizabeth didn't want to play.

Perhaps her friend just needed time, perhaps she just needed to think about it for a while, maybe be persuaded that taking the cure was what she wanted, she refused believe that Elizabeth would choose to remain a vampire, that she would choose to keep killing people to live when there was another way out.

She finally dragged herself out of bed and showered, taking longer than she usually would have in an effort to avoid the rest of world for a little longer. When she finally emerged from her bedroom she dragged herself over to the kitchen, ignoring Ronon's gaze as his eyes followed her. She opened the fridge and stared at the contents, realising that she actually didn't feel much like eating she closed it again and walked over to the couch. She let herself sink down into the cushions, half wishing that they would just swallow her up.

"You should eat something," Ronon stated from his position in the large chair.

"I' not hungry," she replied staring at the wall opposite her.

"You should eat something anyway," he told her and she sighed, turning to look at him.

"Perhaps you are right, I will need my strength if I'm going to continue looking for Elizabeth," she said as she stood up and made her way toward the kitchen.

"Why do you still want to find her?" he asked, halting her steps

She turned to look at him in confusion. "Why would I not?"

"You told her about the cure, she wasn't interested," he stated and she shook her head.

"She's still my friend and I refuse to believe she would choose to remain that way, she'll come around," she told him and was about to continue toward the kitchen when he spoke again.

"And if she doesn't?" he questioned standing up and walking toward her. "What will you do then; keep following her around until she changes her mind. She's a vampire now, maybe it's time you accept the possibility that the woman you know is dead."

"Why do you even care?" she asked him angrily. "You can continue on your endless quest for vengeance, go back to just killing vampires all the time. Let me ask you this, if it had been your wife would you have stopped?"

She regretted the words as soon as they were out, they were a low blow even if she was in a bad mood. Anger and sadness once again filled his face but he seemed to push it away to glare at her and she wished she could take it back.

"I'm sorry, that was... unfair of me," she said quietly "But it doesn't change anything, Elizabeth is my friend and I'm not giving up on her."

"You're gonna get yourself killed and I'm getting damn sick of saving you," he told her and she found her anger once again.

"Nobody asked you to, if you're sick of saving me then why don't you just stop, it's not like you actually care," she all but yelled at him.

"Fine," he shouted as he grabbed his jacket and stormed out of the apartment, Teyla winced when he slammed the door behind him, the sound reverberating through her head painfully and part of her wanted to go after him, the bigger part of her just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry so she chose to ignore both parts. Instead she walked over to the window and looked down to the street where Ronon's car was driving away, the sun was already going down and she decided that perhaps just for tonight she would stay in, she was too tired to go searching the streets for Elizabeth when there was little chance she would actually find her.

* * *

After spending the day trying and failing to focus through work, Laura had left the restaurant and driven around aimlessly for over an hour. She wasn't even sure why but she ended up at the lab, when she walked in Carson and Radek had been doing what looked like paperwork. They'd both smiled to her when she'd entered, neither questioning her presence as though she belonged there now.

"Where's Rodney?" she asked.

"He's in a meeting," Radek told her as he stood up and looked at Carson. "I think I'm going to call it a day, you should too."

Carson nodded as Radek cleared up his papers, slotting them into a file and saying good bye to both other occupants of the room as he left.

"I hear you found Elizabeth last night," Carson stated, not looking up from the report he was reading and Laura marvelled at the man's ability to read her even though she'd only known him a few weeks.

"Yeah we did, we told her about the cure," she replied looking down at the floor, it had been harder than she'd expected to see Elizabeth and know what she was, that'd she done, what she'd been about to do if they hadn't shown up when the did. It had been even harder to see how... disinterested she was in the cure; it seemed her friend was happy with being a vampire.

"What did she say?" he asked her and she looked back at him.

"To keep quiet about so we don't get killed... she wasn't even interested," Laura told him and he smiled as he stood up.

"Maybe she just needs some time, it's a big decision for her," Carson suggested and Laura smiled slightly and nodded, he could be right.

"It's just... she seemed so different, nothing like the Elizabeth I knew," she stated sadly.

"Of course she's different; you can't go through what she's been through and not change, she had to change or she would have died instead," Carson explained and Laura smiled again.

"How did you get be so wise?" she questioned, a hint of amusement coming through the horrible feelings she'd been dealing with since last night and Carson shrugged.

"Just comes naturally," he told her and put a hand on her shoulder "Everything will work out."

"Those pig headed idiots," Rodney shouted as he walked into the lab, interrupting their conversation. "They're actually cutting the lab's budget, well they can just kiss goodbye to the cure for everything."

"Rodney we don't have a cure for everything," Carson stated.

"Yeah but we could have if they didn't keep cutting our damn budget," Rodney continued to shout as he disappeared into the back room, he left the door open behind him so they could still hear him talking to himself in annoyance.

"Want to get out of here?" Carson asked and Laura glanced at the door as Rodney came back through it still muttering to himself.

"Yeah."

* * *

Ronon still hadn't returned, it had been hours since he'd stormed out of the building, it was long since dark outside and Teyla felt bad for being the one to drive him away. Brining up his wife had been cruel, she shouldn't have done that and she shouldn't have sounded so ungrateful about all the times he'd saved her life. She felt terrible, not only guilty but something else as well, a sense of loss that had made itself known shortly after he left and had been annoying her since. She hadn't lost anything, when he came back they would talk and sort all of this out.

She walked away from the window, standing there staring down the street wasn't going to make his car come back any faster. Sitting down on the couch she flicked through the TV channels only to find there was absolutely nothing on so she turned it off again and walked through to the kitchen.

That was when the door to the apartment burst open and she looked around hoping it was Ronon and instead seeing several men walk in. It took her all of a few seconds to realise they were vampires and she cursed herself for leaving her bag in her room, she was unarmed out numbered and this time there was no Ronon to save her, she was on her own.

She ran for the knife drawer pulling it open and grabbing the first handle her hand came in contact with. Two arms wrapped around her waist and the knife almost slipped from her grasp as he pulled her back, she lifted her legs, pushing her feat against the kitchen counter and sending both herself and the vampire crashing to the ground.

Recovering quickly she dragged herself up from the floor, keeping the knife in her hand as she turned to face the other vampires. There were six of them, all male and all twice her size, she knew her chances in this fight were somewhere around zero. She really wished Ronon was here and surprisingly it was not because she wanted him to save her, she was going to get killed here and she just wanted to see him, maybe she could make things right between them.

One of the vampires moved toward her and she tightened her grip on the knife, bracing herself for the attack. A hand wrapped around her ankle and she looked down to the vampire that had first attacked, he was recovering from the fall now too; she kicked him in the face and ran around the counters in the middle of the kitchen, barely avoiding the outstretched arm of another vampire. A third one tried to get to her but the second he was close enough Teyla rammed the knife into his chest, he stumbled backward but she kept hold of the knife, allowing it to slide back out of his chest before the vampire fell the floor, clutching at the bleeding wound.

Before she could register it another one of the vampires lunged at her, his arms going around her waist and she found herself hitting the floor once again. This time though the vampire was on top of her, he had her pinned against the floor and she no longer had the knife, she'd dropped it when she fell.

His hands went to her neck, gripping it tightly and cutting off the flow of oxygen to her lungs, she tried to pry his hands away from her as she struggled for breath but it was no good, he was too strong for her.

"I do believe your look has run out Emmagan," the vampire stated cockily and Teyla turned her head to the side, she reached out to the knife, the tip of her finger touching the handle but it was too far for her to grab it. Everything started to get cloudy, the edge of her vision darkening and spots appearing over what she could see.

The vampire on top of her bared his teeth, his fangs present and even as used every bit of strength left in her to struggle she knew it was no good. He took one of his hands from her neck, keeping the other one in place but revealing part of her skin. She felt the points of his teeth against her skin, felt his hot breath on her neck as he scraped his teeth along it, she could barely see at all now, could make out shapes and outlines but the details of what surrounded her were gone. Her strength left her, she stopped struggling, didn't have the energy anymore, her hands slowly fell back against the wooden floor and her eyes began to close.

She vaguely registered the noise coming from somewhere in the apartment, it wasn't until the vampire released her, until he got off her that she started to come around again. She gasped for air, taking in as much as her lungs would allow and coughing when she got greedy. She turned onto her side and tried to focus on her surroundings, fighting through the blur in her vision until she could see again.

Ronon had returned, he'd already killed two of the vampires and she watched as he staked a third. She pulled herself up from the floor, feeling a little dizzy at the manoeuvre but the more oxygen she took in the better she felt. Her strength was already returning to her, albeit slowly and she took several steps toward the fight.

Ronon ducked to avoid the fist being directed at his face and staked the vampire who had owned it, and Ronon turned to the next vampire, the one that had nearly killed her. Ronon stared him down for a second, anger radiating from every part of him as he stepped forward and swung for the vampire who stepped back, avoiding it. He kicked Ronon, his foot only connecting with the taller man's thigh and Ronon stumbled back slightly grabbing the foot even as he did so and using it to throw the attacker to the ground where he staked him.

There was only one vampire alive now, the one she had stabbed with a knife and Ronon wasted no time in walking over to the bleeding man, didn't even hesitate in driving a stake through his chest. Once the attackers were all dead, Ronon turned to Teyla, something passing though the man's eyes that almost made Teyla shiver. He walked over to her with as much purpose as he'd approached the dying vampire and with just as little hesitation he crashed his lips against hers.

Surprise had Teyla frozen for all of a few seconds before she kissed him back, her hands grabbing fistfuls of his shirt as he pushed her back against the wall. His tongue forced its way into her mouth, not that she put up much of a protest against it, and his body ground against hers, almost crushing her smaller frame between him and the wall.

TBC


	26. Chapter 26

**Steph – **I'm glad you liked the slowly emerging Laura and Carson relationship and the scene at the end; it's probably one of my favourites in this story so far. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparkly – **Why are you looking at me?! Lol, it's not like I'd do anything cruel... (Looks shifty) okay so maybe I would. I'm glad you liked the Carson and Laura scene at it's about time I got to write some serious Spanky in this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Saphire – **Laura kind of got dropped in the deep end there but then Teyla saw Elizabeth on a hit squad so it all evens out really. It could have gone better but it was mostly the shock that made Elizabeth react that way. It's not really important that they cut the budget, just something for Rodney to storm in complaining about. Glad the kiss was unexpected that's what I was going for, thanks for the review

**Jammeke – **Of course Chaya isn't going to let them get away this easily lol. I'm glad you like protective John, I think with Elizabeth his protective instincts are always turned up to full. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **I hadn't originally intended to have a Carson and Laura relationship in this story but someone asked if I could put it on and I'm glad that's working out well. John is always subtly protecting Elizabeth when there's any danger around, I love protective John. I'm glad you enjoyed Teyla's thoughts and the fight scene; I wanted to give Ronon a reason to grab her and kiss her and her nearly dying seemed like a good one. Thank you for you review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuroima – **The cure was a bit of a shock considering John and Elizabeth didn't even know what they had was a disease. I'm glad you liked the Spanky part, I've been waiting to write that through the whole story, thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 26

Chaya walked out of the cafeteria, casting one last glance over at John and Elizabeth who remained completely oblivious to her presence. It seemed Elizabeth had no intention of heeding her warning, the beating was obviously not enough, the only thing it had done was make John more protective of his little pet. She still didn't understand why the man thought it was necessary to take care of his pets, it was a misconception that was proving harder to rid him of than she'd been expecting. Since the attack on her had obviously not been enough to get rid of Elizabeth she was going to have to resort to more extreme measures, perhaps the only way to get Elizabeth away from John was to remove her from his life completely.

She headed through to one of the lower floors of the vampire home, it was similar to the others in that the stone corridors were dimly lit but here they were decorated with rich fabrics and deep reds. It was the corridor where all the elder's dorms were, her father's was the third one on the right and she knocked on the door.

It opened revealing the barely old face of her father; Andrew Sar had been 45 years old when he'd been turned into a vampire 257 years ago. He'd been made an elder mostly because of his devotion to the world of vampires, he was cold and calculated but he had one weakness... her. She had him wrapped around her little finger, could get him to do absolutely anything for her and right now she could use that to her advantage.

"Hello daddy," she greeted and a small smile appeared on his face.

"Hello darling, do come in," he said and stepped back allowing his daughter to walk passed him into the room. It was decorated very similarly to the corridor, her father was a true vampire at heart, everything about him screamed vampire, from his decorative tastes to the grace and precision of his movements that seemed to come naturally to just about every vampire.

"No meeting this morning?" Chaya questioned.

"Not this morning," he told her and she smiled looking thoughtful for a moment.

"We should have lunch later today, we don't do it anywhere near as often as we used to," Chaya said and her father once again smiled and nodded. "Any hits going down today?"

"No, we've lost a lot of vampire's recently, we think it's best to cut back for a while, let our number's increase again before we start taking on any more threats," her father explained and Chaya nodded her head, that made sense and it was going to make her plan a whole lot easier.

"I need you to do me favour," she told him and he smiled, telling her that whatever it was she wanted might as well be done already, she loved having an elder as a father.

* * *

Ronon had cleaned up the bodies last night; thankfully no police had shown up so Teyla was spared having to explain why she was once again surrounded by bodies that had all been killed by various wooden implements. It had been nice to not have to worry about making up a story in the aftermath of an attack but she would have much preferred that than what she ended up worrying about.

Ronon had kissed her and much to her surprise she had kissed him back, it had gotten fairly heated fairly quickly and had they not been surrounded by dead bodies that required immediate attention she had no doubt as to where it would have led. She wasn't even sure why it had happened, sure she liked Ronon, she'd gotten fairly close to him over the last month but not close enough for last night to make sense to her. Maybe it was just how close she'd come to dying last night, out of all the attacks so far she'd never felt that close to death before, if Ronon had shown up even a second later she would be dead now, one of the bodies he'd had to clean up.

It was a good rationalisation so why couldn't she make herself believe it and it still didn't explain why Ronon had kissed her in the first place. She sighed; she'd been confused enough about Elizabeth's apparent disinterest in the cure and whether or not she wanted to continue trying to save her, now she had to add this whole mess to the list of things her mind needed to deal with.

After the bodies had been dumped off the pier they'd both gone to bed... their own separate beds without another word. It seemed avoiding the subject of what had happened was the chosen course 

and Teyla wasn't ready to even mention it out loud yet never mind confront Ronon about it. Instead she woke up, got showered and changed, wore a thin scarf around her neck to hide the bruises there and left the bedroom at the last possible moment.

Thankfully her car had been fixed a few days ago and she was able to drive herself to work, she'd left within minutes of leaving her room, not even looking at Ronon as he sat and ate his breakfast in the kitchen. She grabbed something to eat on the way to work knowing she would never make it through to her lunch break if she didn't.

When she arrived at work she dumped her coat and bag in her locker, receiving a questioning look from Laura when she kept the scarf on. She wondered how long she was going to get away with wearing it since it wasn't part of the uniform, hopefully people would just mind their own business and unless Damien came along, which he most likely would, there shouldn't be a problem. If the boss showed up she'd simply have to hide in the bathroom or something.

"What's with the scarf?" Laura questioned as she followed her through to the main room of the restaurant.

"Vampire's attacked me last night," Teyla said quietly, looking around her to make sure no one could over hear their conversation. The last thing she needed right now was to be labelled a lunatic and dragged off to the asylum.

"Are you alright?" Laura asked in concern.

"Fine, Ronon saved me again," she told her "One of them tried to strangle me though; I've got some lovely bruises on my neck as a souvenir."

"Well, stay clear of Damien, he's in a weird mood this morning and he probably won't hesitate to pull you up about your uniform," Laura warned her and Teyla found herself sighing, she was doing that too much recently.

* * *

It was still early in the night and Elizabeth was more bored than she could ever remember being. She couldn't seem to focus on her book, when ever she tried to concentrate her mind would wonder to thoughts of the cure, to whether or not she wanted it, part of her did, part of her wanted to get back the life she'd been forced to leave behind but strangely, the bigger part of her didn't want to go back.

She left her room deciding that all the times John had come to annoy her when he was bored made it well within her rights for her to do the same to him. The vampire home seemed quiet, many vampires taking the chance to go out and enjoy themselves whilst the sun was down. She had just turned the corner to where John's room was, could see his door until someone stepped in front of her. She vaguely recognised him, had seen him around a few times but she'd never spoken to him, didn't know him.

"Excuse me," she said, trying to walk around him but he followed her step, keeping himself in her path and she turned her head to look at him. "Is there something I can help you with?"

The man didn't say anything, just looked passed her and nodded to someone behind her, when she turned around she saw three other people standing there, all of them looking at her. She slowly backed into the wall of the corridor, trying to watch all of them at the same time and knowing she wasn't going to enjoy whatever happened next. The man that had first stepped in front of her was by far the biggest, tall and well built with a tattoo along the side of his neck, getting that must have hurt like hell.

"You need to come with us," he told her and she could tell it wasn't a request, she shook her head anyway.

"I don't need to go anywhere with you, what do you want?" she questioned and the man smirked.

"To follow orders," he stated and Elizabeth frowned, who would order them to corner her in a corridor and why. That was when she saw her; further down the corridor, watching from the shadows cast by the dim lighting was Chaya.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," she told the man.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice," he replied and stepped toward her, he aimed his fist at her face but having been a vampire for almost two months now Elizabeth had learnt to tap into the natural speed and strength of a vampire. She ducked to avoid it, he hadn't been expecting her to be able to resist and she took the opportunity his surprise gave her to hit him herself, her fist connecting with his jaw and forcing him to stumble backward.

She was still inexperienced though and against four vampires who knew how to fight her with every advantage being a vampire gave them she knew she was going to lose. Another vampire came up behind her and grabbed her arm as a third moved to her side. She was vaguely aware of a voice, someone saying her name before an elbow rammed into the side of her head and everything went dark.

* * *

John walked out of his room to head to the cafeteria, Elizabeth's room was on the way so he'd probably stop by there and see if she wanted to grab something to eat with him. She'd been unusually quiet since they'd been informed of the cure, he knew she was struggling with whether or not she wanted to take it and if he was honest, so was he. The thought of leaving all of this behind was not completely unappealing, no more killing, no more hiding in the dark and no more Chaya.

It wouldn't be that easy though, especially for him, he'd been a vampire now for eight years, could barely remember not being one; he probably didn't even know how to be anything else. Their were parts of being a vampire that he loved, the strength and the speed, the immortality, he was more invulnerable than a human, could live through much more, it wasn't easy to think about giving all that up.

As he walked out of his room he heard a commotion down the corridor and looked up in time to see someone swinging for Elizabeth, she dodged it and hit the guy in the jaw. Someone from behind, a woman, grabbed her arm and John ran toward her, he shouted her name but a second later someone elbowed her in the side of the head and she fell to the floor unconscious.

"Let her go," John shouted as one of the men picked Elizabeth up and threw her over his shoulder. He glanced at John, a small smirk on his face before he walked away taking Elizabeth with him.

"Stay out of this," the guy Elizabeth had hit growled at him rubbing at his jaw.

"Where the hell are you taking her?" John questioned angrily.

"That's none of your business," the man stated and John swung for him, hitting him on the opposite side of his jaw to where a bruise was already beginning to form. The man fell back and hit the wall, glaring at John as he pushed himself back to his feat.

He tried to hit John but he stepped back, avoiding the fist just in time for someone to rush him from the side. He was knocked to the floor, his attacker on top of him but John quickly gained the upper hand, turning them over so he was on top of his attacker and hitting the man several times, hard enough to knock him unconscious. He turned to find the other man but something connected with the back of his head, his vision darkened and he tried to fight off the unconscious that was pulling him under.

He had to get to Elizabeth, had to stop these people from taking her wherever it was they were taking her. He stood up, felt his body falling to the side and his arm landed on the wall, he tried to walk but after three steps his body failed him and the darkness took him.

* * *

Teyla returned to the apartment to find Ronon watching TV, she had finished work hours ago but rather than face coming back here she had gone to dinner with Laura. She'd told Laura what had happened and it had taken her friend several moments of staring at her before she'd been able to respond with a helpful 'oh'.

They continued to talk and Laura had finally convinced Teyla that she couldn't avoid it forever, she should come back here face Ronon. So Teyla found herself standing awkwardly in the middle of the apartment s till wearing her uniform beneath the thick coat she'd started wearing when the weather had turned cold. She took a deep breath and put her bag down in the kitchen, dropping her coat on the counter next to it before moving to join Ronon on the couch.

"We need to talk," she stated and Ronon seemed to freeze for a second before he wordlessly turned off the TV and looked at her. "Thank you for saving my life again," she said when nothing else came to mind.

"Don't mention it," Ronon replied absently and Teyla sighed, this was going to be even harder than she'd thought.

"Look about what happened after..." she began but then trailed off with another sigh. "I know emotions were high so you probably didn't mean it..."

"Who said I didn't mean it?" Ronon questioned, it was more of a statement really and it had the effect of wiping Teyla's mind blank. She stared at him with an expression probably similar to the one Laura had looked at her with earlier.

"Did you?" she finally managed to say and Ronon shrugged, was he purposely trying to make this harder than it needed to be. She knew he wasn't a man who liked to admit to even having emotions never mind sharing them so she decided she would have to be the one to go out on a limb, dangle herself above a pool of hungry sharks and hope Ronon didn't throw her in. Putting that mental imagery aside she bit her lip and took a deep breath. "I did."

Ronon's gaze snapped to hers, he clearly hadn't been expecting that and really, neither had she but she'd said it now, she might as well see what his reaction would be. He stared at her, his eyes studying hers as though they were trying to find an answer in them, trying to figure out what his own feelings were.

"Maybe I did too," he replied and Teyla mentally sighed in relief, the sharks would not be eating her today then.

"So what now?" Teyla asked after an awkward silence.

"Now... if you still insist on finding Elizabeth... I'll help you," he told her and she nodded her head slowly, giving him a small grateful smile.

"Thank you."

* * *

His head was pounding as he woke up, he was lying in the middle of the corridor, dried blood on the side of his face and he followed the trail through his hair to a cut on the back of his head. Whatever had hit him had been sharp, his eyes widened, along with the memory of being hit came the memory of Elizabeth being carried away, unconscious and unable to fight back. He stood up; ignoring the dizziness is caused and looked at the still unconscious form of the vampire he had managed to knock out.

He walked over to the man, dropping to his knees and grabbing fistfuls of his shirt. "Wake up, you son of a bitch," he ordered, shaking the man back into consciousness. He groaned, the sound a confirmation that the method was working.

"Where'd they take her?" he questioned and the man groaned once again.

"Take who?" he asked, still dazed and John shook him again.

"Elizabeth, where'd they take her?"

"Up," the man replied after several moments and John was about to ask what the hell that meant when the man passed out again. John shook him more; the action almost violent this time but it did no good, the man was completely out. He stood up once more, trying to get his aching brain to work, up had to mean the surface didn't it?

He looked at his watch, half an hour until sunrise, hopefully they wouldn't have gone far, not that it would matter, John had no way of knowing where'd they'd taken her once they were out of the Vampire home, for all he knew they'd taken her on the subway and were miles away by now. Having 

no idea where he was going John headed for the surface, the last few vampires making their way in before daylight arrived, all of them looking at him strangely for heading the other way.

He reached the subway and stared at the staircase that led up to the street, a train arrived at the other side of him, almost emptying the platform of people. He had no idea where to go, no time to figure it out.

"John," he heard someone say and turned to see Michael standing behind him. He was about to strangle the man when the vampire – former vampire if what Teyla had said was true – raised his hands defensively and took a step backwards. "Before you try and kill me you should hear me out, I know where they took Elizabeth."

John stopped, looking at the man, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth. "Where?" he almost growled.

"Before I tell you I want your word that you won't hurt me," Michael stated and as much as John wanted to kill him, he wanted to find Elizabeth more.

"If you're telling me the truth then I won't hurt you, you have my word," he replied and Michael nodded.

"The beach, to the place where they execute vampires," Michael informed him and John was fairly sure his heart had stopped, mental imagery of the fate that awaited Elizabeth there flooding his mind. Michael tossed him a set of keys and John only just noticed them in time to catch them. "There's a car out front, take it."

"Why are you helping me?" John questioned.

"Because I have a fresh start, a chance at a new life and I don't want to be looking over my shoulder for people with a vendetta against me, we're even now. Goodbye John," Michael turned and walked away and John once again glanced at his watch. It was a fifteen minute trip to the beach and with less than twenty five minutes until sunrise he knew he'd never make it there and back in time, he'd just have to figure it out when he got there.

He ran out of the subway, found the car Michael had left for him and quickly got in, turning the keys in the ignition and driving fast enough that he was probably going to get pulled over by the cops before he could get to the beach. The streets went by in a blur, other road users beeped their horns at him when he flew by them but all he cared about was beating the sun to the beach.

When he finally got there light was already creeping into the sky, this unused area of the beach was littered with rubbish, forgotten by the humans and used as an execution chamber by the vampires. The poles were down near the water; the tide was still going out, the bigger waves still reaching halfway up the beach. His eyes scanned the poles, finding the familiar figure tied to one of them, left there to be killed when the sun finally rose.

"Elizabeth," he breathed, running toward the poles. She wasn't moving, ropes bound her hands above her head and it seemed to be taking all her remaining strength to stand up. "Elizabeth," he said again and she moaned quietly, trying and failing to lift her head. She barely managed to open her eyes but it was enough for John to see that she'd been drugged.

The sun was almost on them now, the light travelling along the water faster than he would have liked and he reached into his pocket, pulling out his pocket knife. He moved to the side of her, trying to find a place to cut where he wouldn't risk hurting her as well, he could se the ropes digging into the skin of her wrists.

It took him a few seconds to cut through the rope and in that time the sun had caught them, it cast its light onto the side of Elizabeth's face and she let out a cry of pain. When at last her arms fell free from the ropes he pulled her out of the sun, lifting her into his arms and carrying her up the beach, away from the light.

They had not time, they'd never even make it back to his car before the sun caught up with them again only this time there would be no getting away from it. His mind raced until he finally remembered the safe house, kept here for executioners who couldn't get away from the beach in time, he just had to hope in this case they'd left long ago. He ran up to the concrete path at the top of the beach, following it the short distance to the abandoned building there. The doorway to the basement was as always unlocked and he sighed in relief when he found the small room empty. He laid Elizabeth down on the bed and closed the door just as the light from the sun covered it.

TBC


	27. Chapter 27

**Steph – **Thanks for the review lol, making you speechless is a pretty impressive achievement lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Saphire – **Poor Elizabeth indeed and I'm glad you liked Michael helping them, I debated that for a while. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparkly – **I know, I'm horrible sometimes lol, I think my response would have been similar to Laura's too lol. The second part of Magical Lantis is on its way and I promise lots of Sparky in it, you found yet another way to bring that up lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Jammeke – **I love all sides of John lol but his protectiveness of Elizabeth is my favourite part of him. I totally agree, Teyla is just completely right for Ronon, I love them together. Thanks for the review.

**Fyd818 – **Thanks for the review, I think Ronon is still too emotionally closed off to admit to having any feelings for Teyla. I'm glad you liked the scene with the hit on Elizabeth; I wanted to make it as close as possible. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuroima – **Teyla and Ronon are about as close to okay as they're going to get at the moment and I'm glad the hit scene had you biting your nails, I wanted to make you all worry lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Wormhole – **Thanks for the review, that was kinda close wasn't it lol? I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 27

Elizabeth was still asleep on the bed; the burns along the side of her face and neck had not been severe, fortunately John had gotten her out of the sun in time. They were already healing, reduced to angry red marks against her pale skin and John had spent far too much of the day watching them fade, wishing they would heal faster than they already were. It was barely after mid day, the sun would still be high in the sky and until it disappeared again they were trapped here, the question was, what did they do then?

He knew who was behind this, knew that Chaya had most likely used her father to get to Elizabeth. The woman would clearly stop at nothing to get what she wanted and John didn't know how safe it would be to take Elizabeth back there, once Chaya realised that the attempt on Elizabeth's life had failed she would no doubt try again and this time he might not be able to stop it.

They couldn't stay above ground forever though, vampire's trapped up here had a very short life expectancy, up here you couldn't hide from the sun forever, sooner or later it would get you. He pushed away the mental images of what had almost happened to Elizabeth, what would have happened had he been thirty seconds later than he had been.

He sat beside her on the bed, tracing his fingers along the unburned side of her face, listening to her breathe as if to confirm for himself that he had got there on time, she was alive and for the moment at least, she was safe. She shifted slightly, the pattern of her breathing changing and he knew she was about to wake up so he took his hand away. She opened her eyes a moment later, it took her 

longer to focus than usual, whatever drug they'd given her was probably not completely gone from her system yet.

"John?" she questioned, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"Yeah, it's me," he replied quietly, allowing her more time to come around. When she finally seemed to get a firmer grip on consciousness she sat up, her eyes scanning their unfamiliar surroundings with fear as her memories came back to her. "It's okay," he told her "You're safe here."

"How did you find me?" she asked.

"Would you believe me if I said Michael told me?" he questioned and she looked at him in confusion. "I saw them take you out of the home, I tried to come after you but someone knocked me out. I woke up about half an hour before sunrise and came looking for you, Michael was waiting for me in the subway, told me where you were and gave me a car."

"So... Michael helped you to save me?" she sounded rather incredulous.

"Yeah, said he didn't want to be looking over his shoulder forever and now we're even," he explained and Elizabeth nodded, her eyes taking in their surroundings more calmly now. "We're in a safe house near the beach; we should be okay here until sun down."

"They tried to kill me," Elizabeth whispered as if the thought had really only just hit her. "They left me there, to burn to death when the sun came up and I really believed that's what was going to happen to me, I really believed I was about to die."

John swallowed and tried not to show how much the thought pained him, how much he'd been thinking about it over the last several hours. Instead he reached forward and kissed her, trying to convince both of them that she was alive, he'd saved her... this time.

"God, I love you," John said as they pulled apart, his mind only just realising that he'd said it loud and he grimaced inwardly, that thought was supposed to have stayed in his head. Elizabeth stiffened only for a second before she slowly wrapped her arms around his shoulders, burying her face in his neck. She didn't say anything but she didn't need to, John understood the message as clearly as if she'd spoken it words. "I think we should take the cure."

That statement obviously surprised her more than the first one because she stiffened and pulled away from him, staring at him in shocked disbelief. He hadn't meant to say that either, it had just popped into his head and then out of his mouth before he could even process it, why was it suddenly impossible for him to think before speaking?

"You want the cure?" Elizabeth questioned "You don't want to be a vampire anymore; you want to go back to being human?"

"Think about Elizabeth, Chaya obviously wants you dead and in case you haven't noticed she's not the type to give up on something that she wants. If we go home now, she'll try again and again and again until she finally gets you and I'm not willing to risk losing you so that I can have superhuman strength and hide in the dark everyday. If we take the cure then we're free of Chaya, we can go out in the sun, we won't have to feed on people, no more killing," he tried to explain his reasons, not knowing them himself until they came out his mouth.

"It's not that easy John, it's not like becoming a vampire, we can't just go from one world to the other just like that," Elizabeth argued, he knew this was a big decision, it would be hard for both of them but after thinking about it almost none stop since Teyla had told them about it, he could think of a million reasons why they should take it and only a few why they shouldn't and even fewer of them were good ones.

"I know it won't be easy but it might be for the best," he stated and Elizabeth looked thoughtful, staring at the wall opposite as though the answer was going to jump out of it.

"I need to think."

* * *

The sun had gone down and Ronon had agreed to come out with Teyla to search, just for a few hours then they could go home. She still wasn't sure exactly where she and Ronon stood with each other but she knew that something had changed and whatever it was, it wasn't going to change back. She'd just have to wait and see where this new road took her and hope that somewhere near the end of it she'd have managed to put some order into the chaos that seemed to surround her now.

They were just going to walk from Ronon's apartment to the lab and then back again, if they somehow got miraculously lucky and ran into Elizabeth she would... well she had no idea what she was going to do but she'd just cross that bridge when they came to it. The night was cold, days generally weren't that bad but at night the temperature dropped quite a bit and it wouldn't be long now before the days joined it, winter was coming to Atlantis now.

"How is that you're never cold?" Teyla questioned and Ronon shrugged.

"I'm just naturally very warm I guess," he replied and she decided that shrugging was a habit she was going to have to make him break. She was about to reply when someone walked around the corner in front of them and blocked their way, when she turned her head to see who it was her eyes widened in surprise.

"Elizabeth," she said even as Ronon took a step forward, his hand going to the wooden stake hidden beneath his coat.

"Teyla," Elizabeth replied, looking briefly at Ronon. "You can call off your guard dog; we're not here to hurt you."

Teyla knew that comment would not have gone down well with Ronon but he didn't react to it either for which she was grateful. "Then what do you want?"

"We want the cure," Elizabeth stated simply and Teyla allowed herself several moments to be too stunned to move or respond. She had been sure Elizabeth wasn't interested in the cure, what had made her change her mind?

"We?" she questioned with a glance at the man stood beside her, she was sure she'd called him John that last time they'd run into each other. "Both of you want it?"

"Yes," she replied and Teyla stared at her, eyes locking with the woman that had once been her friend as they tried to read each other and Teyla hoped her friend had not changed so much that she would no longer be able to read her correctly. She looked at Ronon and nodded her head; he relaxed slightly but didn't take his hand away from the stake. "Then you'd better come with us."

The four of them walked toward the lab and Teyla called Carson, discovering that all three scientists were still in the lab. She didn't want to call Laura yet, she would wait until Elizabeth had actually taken the cure then call Laura and Lorne, let them both know what was going on. When they arrived at the research centre Teyla entered the pass code for the door and walked in first, Elizabeth and John following with Ronon close behind them.

They found Carson and Radek waiting for them in the main lab, Rodney came through from the back room once he realised they were there. Everyone stared at each other; no body moving until Teyla decided enough was enough. "The cure is in the back room," she stated, taking her coat off and leaving it on the lab counter.

"That a part of your normal attire?" Elizabeth questioned bitterly and Teyla followed her gaze to the stake that was tucked into the waistband of her trousers. She thought about it for a moment, knowing the weapon would do more harm than good in this situation, there needed to be some level of trust in the room, she took the weapon and placed it next to her coat, walking away from it.

She walked though to the back room, the three scientists following her immediately, Ronon stayed behind John and Elizabeth, warily watching their every move. The first thing Teyla noticed was that there was now two beds, both with restraints and Teyla wondered for a moment if they were going to be necessary this time, she didn't want to have to restrain Elizabeth.

"So here's how this works," Rodney began nervously. "We inject you with the cure and then sedate you; we keep you unconscious for five days so that the serum can take effect. After that you'll have to hang out here for a few days until the chemicals that make you allergic to sunlight wash out of your system and then you're free to do whatever you want."

"We have to be unconscious for five days?" John questioned, he didn't seem to like the idea.

"Yes but you'll be well taken care of," Radek was quick to reply and Elizabeth turned to look at John, uncertainty filling her expression. They seemed to have a silent conversation, a debate as to whether they still wanted to do this.

"Alright," Elizabeth finally said.

"Well, if you could just hop up onto the beds we'll get started," Carson instructed. Rodney and Radek turned around to prepare the cure and the sedatives whist Carson pulled out the IVs. Teyla watched as John took Elizabeth's hand and gave her a small smile, as though he was trying to reassure her and she was once again surprised by them, the... gentle display didn't fit with her idea of vampires, not from what she'd seen of them so far.

They both sat down on the separate beds as Rodney and Radek walked over, needles in hand and Elizabeth bit her lip nervously as she held out her arm, keeping her eyes on John the entire time and Teyla couldn't help but notice how afraid her friend looked. They were injected with the cure and there was no turning back, Carson instructed them both to lie down on the beds and set up the IVs to sedate them.

* * *

"You so do," Teyla laughed as she sat in Laura's apartment, her friend blushed slightly and looked down at the floor, probably hoping it was going to open up and swallow her. "Just admit it Laura, you like Carson."

"Of course I like him, he's a very nice guy," Laura stated and Teyla laughed once again.

"You know what I mean, you like him as in as more than a friend," Teyla replied and Laura blushed even more and sighed.

"Well what about you and Ronon?" she deflected turning the conversation around on Teyla but knowing her friend as well as she did she'd already been prepared for that.

"Yes, I like Ronon, I'm not sure what that means yet but I do like him," she told Laura with none of the embarrassment this seemed to be causing for the blonde. She'd come to the conclusion that she did like Ronon as more than a friend, somewhere along the way it had turned into something more and she didn't really recall how or even when that had happened.

"Okay so yes, maybe I do like Carson," Laura finally admitted and Teyla gave her a triumphant 'I told you so' grin that earned her a punch in the arm.

"He really is a nice guy Laura," Teyla said, stopping her teasing for the moment.

"And he's been taking good care of Elizabeth," Laura continued, bringing them to the topic they had been avoiding, mostly because they couldn't seem to think or talk about anything else at the moment. It had been three days since Elizabeth and John had been injected with the cure, in another two days it should be safe to wake them up. "I still can't believe she agreed to take the cure."

"Me neither, I was sure she didn't want it," Teyla replied.

"And who's the guy?" Laura questioned a small amount of humour in her voice.

"I don't know but they seem pretty close," Teyla stated, thinking back to the few times that she'd seen Elizabeth since she'd been turned into a vampire, that man had always been there and he seemed to be rather protective of her.

"Elizabeth Weir who would never let herself get too close to anybody, she even had some walls up around us, this is the same person right?" Laura joked and Teyla forced a smile, was Elizabeth the same person underneath it all, she'd been asking herself that for weeks now.

* * *

Lorne left the station and headed for his car; he should probably stop by the lab and see how things were going on his way home. They'd finally managed to wrap up the kidnapping case and today had been one of those days that made this job, the long hours and the horror he witnessed, all worth it. They'd found the little boy that had been kidnapped, taken from his garden as his played with his toys. The man that had taken him had kept him locked up in a room, fed him just enough to keep him alive, recreating the trauma of his own childhood.

The kid, while a little undernourished, wasn't hurt and it had been great to see him reunited with his parents and sister. Today had definitely been the high point of the last few weeks and he intended to enjoy his good mood whilst he had it.

"Detective Lorne," a familiar voice said just as Lorne unlocked his car and he turned around, of course the man would pick now.

"Kavanaugh," he acknowledged. The annoying man smiled his greeting, the falseness of his gestured obvious in his eyes even if they were hidden behind the glasses on his face. Kavanaugh was probably one of the least liked people on the police force, no one was sure how the coward had made detective; probably had friend's in high places though how the man had friends at all was as good a question as how he'd made it to his position.

"Congratulations on solving the kidnapping case," Kavanaugh said and Lorne resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Thanks," he replied.

"Heading out to celebrate?" Kavanaugh questioned and Lorne looked at him curiously, trying to figure out where this interest was coming from.

"No, I'm just heading home, might stop to visit some friend's one the way," Lorne replied and Kavanaugh smiled again.

"Really, I'm surprised someone as devoted to the job as you has close friend's away from the force, usually it's easier to just hang out with the people you work with. So what do your friends do for a living?" he questioned conversationally but Kavanaugh was not a man who showed interest in anything but himself.

"I should get going," Lorne stated, getting into his car.

* * *

She could feel consciousness pulling at her but she couldn't quite grip onto it, there were voices around her but she didn't know them, couldn't recognise any of them. Her memories started coming back to her, vampires, slayers, the beach, the cure. She snapped her eyes open, regretting it when the light sent a stab of pain through them and she closed them again, waiting a few seconds before she tried again more slowly.

She recognised the voices now, could understand what they were saying but her mind chose to focus on something else. She looked to the side where John's bed should be, there were two men stood by it, two of the scientists from the lab. She saw John move, knew he was either awake or waking up and hoped they were both okay, hopefully the cure had worked on both of them.

"Are you alright?" Teyla questioned and Elizabeth turned her attention to the two people standing by her bed.

"My head hurts," she replied, hurts was probably an understatement.

"I can give something for that later," the man stood by her side informed her and she nodded her head, forcing herself to sit up. She saw the slayer standing by the wall, a stake in his hand as he watched her and John wake up. Laura was there as well, sat on the nearby counter watching the scene in front of her.

"Did it work?" she questioned and the man smiled.

"It seems so, can you grow your vampire teeth?" he asked her and she hesitated a moment, she wasn't sure if she wanted this to work or not but she attempted to bring out her vampire teeth, when nothing happened she tried again, focusing on it, still nothing happened. She shook her head, feeling a sense of loss and wondering how she was going to feel when she tried to use her strength and speed only to find that gone as well, not to mention her ability to heal.

Something else struck her as well, she'd been unconscious for days, hadn't fed for a couple of days before that yet the thirst wasn't there, it should have been screaming at her by now but there was nothing. She turned to look at John who was also sat up, his eyes found hers and he smiled the same reassuring smile he'd given her before they'd taken the cure.

"You both seem to be fine," one of the scientists stated after several more moment. "It'll be a few days before you can go out in the sun but... you're not vampires anymore."

TBC


	28. Chapter 28

**Authors Note - This is the second to last chapter, the story's almost finished, I hope you enjoy it. **

**Jammeke – **I think John is always sexy but you're right, something about him as a vampire makes him twice as sexy. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Saphire – **(narrows eyes at you) Have you been reading my notes? Lol. Kavanaugh does seem very suspicious doesn't he, hmmm I wonder why that is? I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and thanks for the review.

**Sparkly – **After everything they've been through it would be hard for Elizabeth and Teyla to go back to the way they were, they care enough to try though. Not being vampires would definitely be a good thing but I think I'd miss the super strength and speed and rapid healing. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuroima – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the 'I love you' part, I rather liked it too lol. I somehow doubt that anything would be difficult for Chaya, except being nice, that she would find a challenge lol. I love villainising (I think I made that word up) her, she fits the role of baddy so well. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph – **Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 28

John was going stir crazy, they'd been trapped in Rodney's lab since they woke up three days ago and staring at the walls everyday had gone way beyond frustrating. One of the scientists was in the lab at all times, plus Teyla, Ronon, Laura and Lorne were constantly dropping in to check on things. He hadn't been alone with Elizabeth since the day they'd spent in the safe house, had been able to do nothing more than hold her hand.

Carson and Radek took blood samples from both of them and John moved to sit on the bed with Elizabeth while they waited for the two men to run their tests. He reached for Elizabeth's hand, interlacing his fingers with hers and moving them to rest on his lap. Elizabeth leant into his side and laid her head on his shoulder, they were both tired, the cure was still working in their systems and was taking up all their energy. It had been better over the last 24 hours, they'd both had a bit more energy to spare but he was still gonna need a nap later.

"How's it going?" Teyla asked as she entered the lab with Ronon in tow.

"We're just running the blood tests now," Carson told her absently as he and Radek continued with their task, Teyla turned to look at John and Elizabeth giving them an unreadable look which she seemed to do a lot.

"I thought you were working today," Elizabeth stated and John could hear the slightly wistful tone of her voice and the guilt he thought he'd dealt with about turning her came back again.

"I was, I finished an hour ago," Teyla replied as her cell phone rang, she pulled it out of her bag, cursing when she couldn't find it as quickly as she wanted to. She answered it and walked back out of the room to the main lab, Lorne's name floating back through the door.

The room was silent except for the Carson and Radek shuffling and Teyla's quiet, muffled voice coming from the doorway. Elizabeth was falling asleep on John's shoulder and Ronon stood there silently, staring at them with a look of hatred. Like most others he looked at them and saw monsters, he didn't see people; he saw demons that needed to be killed, whether they had become human again or not.

It seemed like an eternity before Carson cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention to him. Teyla quickly ended her conversation with Lorne and returned, waiting to hear the results of the tests.

"You're blood is clear enough for you to leave the lab, the sun shouldn't bother you anymore," Carson told them.

"Are you sure?" John questioned. "I wouldn't want to go outside and discover you were wrong as I burn to death."

Behind them Radek picked up a flashlight and shone it on John's arm, John looked at the small circle of light on his skin and then looked at Radek with a raised eyebrow. The scientist did the same to Elizabeth, shining the light on the exposed skin of her arm.

"UV light, you're both safe to leave the lab," Radek explained and John looked at Elizabeth, she looked uncertain, almost afraid and John couldn't blame her, neither of them knew what was coming next, where they went from here.

"We'll take you outside," Teyla stated and after a moment Elizabeth nodded her head, jumping down from the bed. John followed her, falling in step beside them as they were led through the mildly busy corridors of the research centre. They both stopped just short of the doorway that led outside, it was a fairly sunny day, at least sunny for this time of year, they could see the light and their not yet completely gone vampire instincts told them to get away from it.

John took hold of Elizabeth's hand, keeping his gaze on the doors as the others walked through them and waited for them. "Ready?" John questioned and Elizabeth took a deep breath.

"Yeah," she breathed.

They both took a step forward, the automatic doors parting for them and in the next second they were both stood in the sunlight. John could feel the heat on his skin but it was not the burning pain he'd half been expecting. His eyes quickly adjusted to the new level of light and looking around him he could see everything in a way he hadn't seen it in years, in the sunlight. Looking to the side he saw Elizabeth, her hand still clasped tightly in his and her face filled with awe similar to what he was feeling.

It had worked; they were both human, completely human.

* * *

Elizabeth had never expected to see this place again, had never expected to be out in the sunlight again. It felt strange and frightening but at the same time it felt like freedom, the same freedom that had been taken away from her. She unlocked her apartment with the spare key she had given to Teyla in what felt like another life, the whole apartment felt like another life, like it belonged to someone else.

There was a small pile of mail on the coffee table, delivered before everyone had learned of her disappearance. Teyla had been keeping the apartment tidy, stopping by once or twice a week to clean up the dust that had accumulated. She ignored the mail and walked through to the bedroom, John was only a few steps behind her, carrying the duffel bag they had brought with them.

"This shouldn't take long," she stated as he dropped the bag onto her bed and started looking around her room.

They couldn't stay at her apartment, she was still deemed a missing person and it would be an obvious place for the vampires to look for her once they figured out she hadn't died at the beach, if they didn't know already. No piles of ash for them to find, just the cut piece of rope that had bound her hands. She unconsciously reached up to the side of her face, the burns had healed quickly, they'd barely been burns at all, at least not by the time she'd woken up. They'd been gone before they'd left the safe house that night, lucky really since she'd lost the ability to heal quickly right after that.

She opened her wardrobe, a small amount of dust had collected on her clothes, Teyla had never been particularly great with cleaning, thorough dusting was just not her thing. She grabbed whatever clothes her hands happened to land on, not particularly caring what she brought with her, everything felt like it belonged to another person, they didn't feel like hers anymore. Ensuring she had everything she needed she zipped the bag closed and turned her attention to John who had a photo frame in his hand. She hadn't had many photos around her apartment and she knew which one he was holding straight away.

"We went to the beach; it took Teyla and Laura almost a whole week to convince me that taking a day off work wouldn't kill me. So we all called in sick, I'm fairly sure Damien knew we were all lying but he never said anything. It turned out to be a really good day, even if me and Laura did come back with sunburn and Teyla got to spend several days taunting us with her improved tan," Elizabeth explained and John smiled, Elizabeth returned it though it felt somewhat forced, not only did the apartment feel like someone else's but the memories did too.

John stepped forward, his hands going to her hips as he leaned forward and kissed her, of all the things around her, everything that was happening John, his kiss, felt more real then all the memories and possessions she was surrounded by.

"I've been dying to do that for days," he told her when they pulled apart and she smiled and kissed him again. "You got everything you need?" he questioned and she nodded her head, gesturing to the now full bag on her bed.

"Yeah, we should get going, Teyla and Ronon are waiting," Elizabeth replied, that man seemed to be Teyla's shadow, she rarely saw one without the other and when she did, the other wasn't too far away. Elizabeth took one last look at the apartment as they left, her eyes taking in the remnants of another life and saying goodbye to it, the old Elizabeth was gone.

* * *

It felt awkward, something Teyla would never have thought possible between the three of them. They'd been friends for years, Elizabeth and Teyla had known each other since school and Laura had joined the trio not long after that, they'd always been completely comfortable with each other.

"Someone should really start talking," Laura finally stated breaking the silence that had settled over the group. "Seriously, people are staring at us, three women just sat at the table staring awkwardly and the furnishings."

Teyla smiled at Laura's attempt to break the ice and decided she had a better idea "Laura's dating Carson," she announced and the blonde stared at her, mouth open as Teyla laughed and Elizabeth smiled in amusement.

"He seems nice," Elizabeth continued Teyla's attempt at small talk.

"He is," Laura replied and then grinned and looked at Teyla "Now why don't we ask Teyla about her relationship with Ronon?"

"Because that's complicated," Teyla responded, eyes narrowed in a mild glare at her friend. "Besides, the ice is already broken now so we don't need to get into that."

"I say we get into it anyway," Laura stated and then looked at Elizabeth for back up. "What do you think?"

Elizabeth smiled slightly and shook her head. "If she doesn't want to talk about then we should leave it alone... for now," she said and for a moment Teyla could hear her friend talking, the same Elizabeth who had disappeared not the vampire she had been forced to deal with, perhaps at least part of her was still in there somewhere.

"Okay, so what about your friend?" Laura questioned turning the conversation on Elizabeth who smiled again and shook her head.

"Also very complicated," she stated and Teyla got the feeling there was something she didn't want to tell them.

"Were you happy?" Teyla asked "Being a vampire."

"I don't know, I wasn't unhappy, at least not once I got used to it, once I understood it and I think, maybe, I was happy at times," Elizabeth replied trying to figure the answer out for herself. "Not all vampires are monsters; some of them are just people trying to survive the only way they can."

"We should get out of here, it'll be dark soon," Laura stated and Elizabeth looked almost like she wanted to laugh.

"First I was avoiding the day and now I'm avoiding the night," she said more to herself than anyone else. They all stood up and left the table, walking out of the small cafe where Teyla almost ran into a man walking by. She steadied herself on her feat, apologising to the man who, when she finally looked at him, looked somewhat familiar. He had glasses sliding down his long nose, his hair was tied back in a ponytail and Teyla was fairly sure she'd seen him one of her few trips to the police station.

"I'm sorry," she said again.

"That's fine, I wasn't watching where I was going," he replied and then looked at her thoughtfully. "You're a friend of Lorne's aren't you; I remember seeing you at the station. I'm detective Kavanaugh."

"Teyla," she replied warily and when the man looked at Laura and Elizabeth probably expecting their names with a small flicker of recognition when he looked at Elizabeth, she decided it was time to move on. "I'm sorry detective but we have to be somewhere."

"Off course," he said, stepping out of the way, Teyla motioned for Elizabeth and Laura to walk passed her and then hurried after them.

* * *

The sun had finally gone down about an hour ago; the streets were dark and quiet except for the sound of a few young people heading out to enjoy the nightlife. They had no idea of the dangers that lurked in the shadows, that some of them were enjoying their last few hours of life. Vampires would already be coming out, prepared to take full advantage of their few hours of freedom before the sunlight would chase them back into hiding.

Kavanaugh stepped into the construction yard, each step taking him further away from the mostly quiet streets and further into the silence. Nobody was around, except for him and hopefully the woman he was here to see, she'd be very pleased with what he had to tell her. The light from the street lamps didn't reach this far in, the only source of light was the moon and the stars, casting eerie shadows where it was blocked by the huge equipment.

A noise behind him startled him; he turned around quickly his eyes almost missing the figure standing in the dark. He took a deep breath, these meetings always made him nervous, there was no guarantee that he would come out of this alive, only the word of a woman who didn't seem to have honesty on her list of personal traits.

She stepped out of the shadows looking much the same as always, brown hair flowing over slim shoulders framing her beautiful face. Her clothes hugged every curve of her figure, the low cut top revealing more than a little flesh and the healed boots making her legs seem even longer beneath the tight black trousers. She smiled slightly, the action seeming seductive and predatory at the same time, reminding Kavanaugh of the creature she really was, of the danger he was in just by standing here with her.

"Hello Kavanaugh," she almost purred.

"Chaya," he greeted "I have information for you," he told her, he wanted to get this over with and get out of there as quickly as possible.

"That's why I'm here, what is it you have to tell me?" she questioned, her eyes glowing with curiosity, she knew he didn't call these meeting unless he had something of particular interest to tell her.

"The woman that you tried to have killed, the one that got away from the beach, I know where she is, along with the man that rescued her," he informed her and watched as a mixture of emotions played across her face, anger, annoyance, delight and a dozen others that Kavanaugh didn't get the chance to name.

"Where are they?" she asked impatiently.

"At a hotel," he told her taking a piece of paper with the address and room number written on it. He handed it to her and she smiled again, more triumphantly and sinister this time and he didn't want to know what she had planned. "There's something else."

"And what would that be," Chaya questioned.

"I've been following Lorne as usual, he got into something pretty interesting, something I'm sure your father would like to know," Kavanaugh explained and Chaya looked at him expectantly, waiting with impatience for him to continue. "A cure... for vampirism and I'm guessing they found it, it works."

"What makes you say that?" Chaya asked him, her interest growing with every second.

"The woman... Elizabeth Weir," he began after a moment of trying to remember the name. "When I saw her, she was outside... during the day."

It was mostly shock on Chaya's face at that moment, her brown eyes widened in surprise and her lips slightly parted. She recovered quickly enough, hiding the expression away and smiling once more at Kavanaugh. "My father will definitely be interested in this information, you have done well, now tell me everything."

* * *

Elizabeth sat in the middle of the large hotel bed, staring out the window where she could see the dark sky. It felt strange to be hiding from it now, hiding from the dark and the vampires when just a week ago it had been the light and even some humans she'd been hiding from. She was no longer a vampire, the thought was still unsettling, it was almost funny that after less than two months as a vampire she was struggling to let it go.

The strength and speed she had gained as a vampire were gone, along with her ability to heal quickly and the lengthened teeth she could grow at will. It had all just been a virus, in all the conversations she'd had with John about what exactly they were, the thought that they were merely the product of a virus had never come up. Now she was cured, they both were and her life had taken yet another turn; had to change all over again.

The door to the bathroom opened and John walked out, freshly shaved and his wet hair as unruly as ever. He'd put his jeans back on and was still in the process of putting his shirt on as he walked through the door.

"Feeling better?" she questioned, they'd both felt grimy after their week in the lab, even if they had been able to get a shower shortly after they'd woken. Elizabeth had hurried into the hotel room shower before John could utter a word of protest and emerged half an hour later feeling clean and fresh.

"Much," John replied finding his socks from the bag Lorne had brought for him and dropping to the bed to put them on. "The first time in three days that I haven't felt tired and it had to be in the middle of the night," he muttered to himself and Elizabeth smiled and moved closer behind him, planting a kiss on his neck, she had to admit over the last couple of hours she seemed to have regained some of the energy that had been missing since she woke up.

John turned his head and captured her lips with his own, bringing his hand up to run his fingers through her still damp hair. They were interrupted by a loud bang on the door, John jumped up from the bed and Elizabeth quickly joined him, standing just in time for another bang that made the door fly open.

Several men walked into the room, Elizabeth recognising most of them as people she'd seen in the underground, it seemed the vampires had found them. How could they have though? They'd only checked into the hotel that morning and hadn't even been there most of the day. Two of them tried to grab her but Elizabeth avoided them, moving away from them until the back of her legs hit the bed. When one of them made a second attempt she hit him, the blow lacking the strength it would have had a week ago. He stumbled back anyway, leaving the second man to try again using a different tactic this time, he hit her and without her vampire speed Elizabeth had never had a chance of avoiding it.

She was knocked back onto the bed and before she could recover the man grabbed her by the waist pulling her back toward him until he and the other vampire could grab her arms and pull her back to her feat. She tried to struggle against them but they were far too strong for her, she looked over to John who was struggling against three of them, even without his vampire strength they were only just able to subdue him with several punches to his gut. They dragged him back to his feet as well both of them being held in place as someone else walked though the door. Elizabeth felt a wave of anger, fear and resignation rush through her, was there no where they could go, nothing they could do to get away from this woman?

"Chaya," she heard John almost growl when he too saw the woman.

"Hello John," Chaya purred, moving to stand in front of him. She brought her fingers up to his face, running them over his cheek even when John flinched away from the contact. Chaya then turned her gaze on Elizabeth, her eyes going from soft to angry in a split second as she walked across the room to her. "And you, you're proving very hard to get rid of, I was sure you'd die on the beach."

"How did you find us?" Elizabeth questioned, refusing to show her fear.

"Now that really doesn't matter, you won't be around long enough for the information to be of any use to you, actually, you're not going to be around for more than another... minute," she told her, her tone full of pleasure as she enjoyed every minute of this. "I think the most fitting way to kill you is a stake through the heart."

Chaya gestured to one of the vampires who handed her something, it wasn't until Chaya turned back to her that Elizabeth could see what it was, a wooden stake. She might not be a vampire anymore but if she stuck that thing in her heart it would still kill her and with the knowledge that she was about to die Elizabeth started struggling again.

"And when you're gone John will be mine, whether he likes it or not," Chaya finished, taking a step closer to Elizabeth, the stake clutched tightly in her hand. She could hear John shouting in the back ground, could see him struggling violently in the corner of her eye but against three vampires he didn't have a chance. Elizabeth closed here eyes, waiting for the impact of the weapon, waiting for the pain that would lead her to her death.

It never came, she opened her eyes, two vampires were dead on the floor, John was up fighting again and there were three other people in the room, Teyla, Ronon and Lorne. Chaya looked terrified, her skin paling more with each vampire that met his death. The vampire to her left released her arm, moving to join the fight and Elizabeth took the advantage it gave her. The other vampire wasn't paying attention to her, his eyes fixed on the fight and his hands tightening on her arm, maybe out of fear. She hit him with her now free hand, her fist connecting with his jaw and the vampire had been so unprepared for it that he let go of her and stumbled to the ground.

That was when Chaya turned her attention back to Elizabeth, anger and accusation written all over her face. "This is all your fault, you should never have taken something that belonged to me," Chaya spat out, her hand with the stake raising once more and coming down toward Elizabeth's chest. Elizabeth instinctively reached her hands up, grabbing Chaya's wrist and stopping the piece of wood only an inch from its target. Chaya was still stronger though, the stake slowly moved closer to her chest, closing the distance between them until Elizabeth could feel the point of it pressing into her clothes. In a last final effort she pushed at the stake, turning it away from her so that it missed her completely. Chaya lost her balance, falling into Elizabeth and knocking them both to the floor, the vampire recovered quicker but without the stake in her hand she resorted to trying to strangle Elizabeth.

With more presence of mind than Chaya, Elizabeth located the wooden stake a few inches away from her head. Even as her lungs begged for air she reached up and gripped it, forcing it into Chaya's chest and the woman looked at her in horror and pain. Her grip on Elizabeth's neck weakened until she was able to push the vampire off her, Chaya fell to the side, the wood still sticking out of her chest.

She sat up, her hand going to her neck and saw John kill the final vampire in the room. He didn't even wait for the man to die before he turned around, his eyes searching her out and finding her sat on the floor beside the now dead body of Chaya. He moved over to her, dropping to his knees beside her and pulling her against his chest, Elizabeth went willingly, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Chaya was gone; they were free of her now.

* * *

Ronon and Lorne had disposed of the bodies last night, Teyla had left the hotel with them, thankfully their small battle had gone unnoticed by the other residents of the hotel who had been asleep or minding their own business. John and Elizabeth had gotten very little sleep; Lorne had informed them shortly before his departure with a car full of bodies that it had been one of the Detectives he worked with that had told Chaya where the two former vampires were staying. Detective Kavanaugh had been a vampire servant, paying for his immunity by giving the vampires information, Chaya had been his contact; John knew she'd had several in just the right places.

One of the other detectives had informed Lorne that they had seen Kavanaugh following him about, Lorne had confronted the cowardly detective who had admitted almost immediately to having told Chaya about John and Elizabeth's whereabouts. Since then the Kavanaugh had disappeared, he'd quit his job that morning and apparently left town.

Everyone had gathered together at the lab to discuss John's and Elizabeth's options now as well as what should be done with the cure. After three attempts to cure humans, all of which had been successful, it was safe to say they had the cure but what did they do with it now?

"The question is, how possible is it for the two of them to go back to their lives before they were turned into vampires," Lorne stated. "For John it would be near impossible, he disappeared eight years ago and no one has seen him since, add to that the fact that he hasn't aged a day and he's gonna have a media circus around him as well as a lot of questions about where he's been, no matter what answer we give there'll still be suspicion."

"It would be easier for Elizabeth thought right?" Teyla questioned. "I mean she's only been missing for less than two months, if she says she has no memory of where she's been and sticks to that the interest in her will die down fairly quickly."

"Yeah, Elizabeth will have very few issues with going back to her life before all this, John will probably have to disappear though, I can move you out of Atlantis, set you up with a new life," Lorne replied, the last part addressed to John. Elizabeth looked at him, she didn't like this idea, it would mean splitting up and she refused to go anywhere without him.

"I'm not going anywhere without John, if he disappears I go with him," she said to the surprise of everyone in the room, even John looked slightly taken aback by her words.

"Elizabeth," Teyla began hesitantly and Elizabeth looked at the bewildered expression on her face as well as the matching one on Laura's, obviously the two of them had expected her to want to stay, they hadn't been prepared for the possibility that she might choose to leave. Elizabeth held Teyla's gaze, making sure her friend understood that her decision had been made, John was the only thing in her life that made sense to her; she wasn't going to lose him.

"If that's what you want, I can set you both up with new lives, you'll probably have to change your last names though," Lorne told them after several moments of silence and Elizabeth turned her attention to him.

"That's fine," Elizabeth replied and looked at John who nodded his head in agreement.

"In the meantime you should lay low, don't be seen more than you have to be, we don't want anyone recognising you and reporting it to the cops," Lorne finished and once again Elizabeth and John nodded.

* * *

The Elder's chamber was cold, it was always cold but they were used to it, anyone else who came in here wasn't, it immediately made them uncomfortable. It was how the Elders liked things, it made the vampires brought before them more intimidated more likely to listen. No one was being brought before them today though, at least not yet. They were there to discuss something, possibly the biggest threat they had ever faced.

Vampirism was a disease, one that now had a cure if what his daughter's informant had said was true. He hadn't seen Chaya since she'd come to inform him of the cure and then left with a rather large hit squad in tow to take care of those two people who had been causing her so much aggravation recently. He actually hadn't seen any of the hit squad since they had left yesterday, they had to be around somewhere though, it hadn't been a regular hit, it had been a favour for his daughter and as such they didn't need to report its success or failure to the Elders. Andrew looked at the faces of the Elders, all of them so completely different and yet united in their coldness, their devotion to the world of vampires.

"This cure cannot be allowed to exist," one of the other elder's stated, a woman, in her early forties and still with the same beauty she'd had the day she was turned, despite her age she would have been a tempting target for any vampire.

"Agreed but what can we do about it?" another questioned, a man this time, he hadn't been an elder long, only about thirty years, since a previous elder had died whilst out feeding, the victim of one of the many humans who hunted them down like animals.

"We know where the lab is, we go in and destroy anything pertaining to the cure, computer files, experiments, everything," yet another elder suggested and there were several murmurs of agreement from around the long semi circular table.

"What about those who developed it?" the woman questioned "They could very well create it again elsewhere."

"They must be killed," the Elder in the centre stated calmly, his voice low and dangerous as always. He'd been an Elder longer than any of them, longer than anyone knew. Despite being centuries old he looked to be in his mid thirties, dark hair and dark eyes that always seemed cold and intimidating. "Not just the three scientists who developed it but those they have been working with, those that know about it."

"Teyla Emmagan is already on the hit list, Laura Cadman is as well but she was deemed a low threat, Evan Lorne is there but he's protected because of his job. Ronon Dex is a slayer and of course John Sheppard and Elizabeth Weir are the cured vampires," Andrew listed, remembering the names Chaya had given him.

"They must all be killed," the eldest said just before the door burst open and a man came running in. He looked terrified and was struggling to catch his breath, obviously he'd run here.

"I apologise for the interruption but this could not wait," he managed to say between breaths, finally gaining some control of his breathing before he continued. "One of our servants just came here with grave news and a body he found washed up on the beach, one he recognised... it is Chaya Sar, she is dead."

Too many emotions to count ran through him at that moment, anger, loss and grief seemed to be the most prevalent though and he stood up immediately, walking to the door and demanding to be shown to his daughter.

TBC


	29. Chapter 29

**Authors Note – Here it is, the final chapter, it's a pretty long one, it had been longer but I decided to move a couple of scenes into the previous chapter, don't worry I did it ages before posting so you haven't missed anything. I hope you enjoy it! **

**HeartyJessica – **I'm glad you've enjoyed the story and I'm kinda sad that this is the final chapter, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy the ending.

**Wormhole – **Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy the final chapter.

**Fyd818 – **(joins in chanting) Chaya is dead! lol. Yeah, I didn't really think Ronon would go from despising everything that John and Elizabeth are to liking them just cos they're human now, they were still vampires, they still killed people and I think part of Ronon will always be reminded of that. I'm kinda sad this is over too; I've actually really enjoyed writing the last few chapters, thanks for the reviews.

**Kuroima – **I hope you don't ruin your nails too much in this chapter, I can't believe it's the last one, I hope you enjoy it though and thanks for your reviews.

**Sparkly – **Was it twelve years, I write so much I can never remember everything, will go back and check that, thanks. That's right, Kavanaugh is a weasel, nothing knew there lol and this is the final chapter, I hope you enjoy it.

**Saphire – **Ronon just isn't the warm and friendly type lol, like with Michael in the actual show, he'll always see what they used to be not what they are and it'd take a lot of work to change that. I did feel a little bad for Andrew but then... well you'll see lo. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy the final chapter.

**Jammeke – **I'm glad the last chapter came out realistic, I was kinda hoping it would lol. Chaya really does make a perfect bad gut, funny cos she wasn't one in the show lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph – **Of course Chaya's father isn't going to let it go, Chaya had to get it from somewhere lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the reviews.

**

* * *

**Chapter 29

Teyla paced back and forth in Ronon's apartment, he was stood to the side watching her go from left to right in front of him. He'd given up trying to get her to stop and despite knowing that pacing wasn't helping she couldn't seem to keep herself from doing it. She didn't understand Elizabeth's decision; she hadn't been prepared for it at all.

"She' going to give up everything, her life, her home, her job and her family, all of for a man she's known for two months, not even that," Teyla ranted, the decision didn't make sense, she couldn't feel that much for him, she barely knew him.

"Have you actually seen them?" Ronon questioned, it was the first time he'd mentioned the former vampires without any trace of disgust or hate in his voice. "She loves him, he loves her and I think that's the only thing that matters to either of them."

Love? She hadn't really considered that, she'd noticed some... affection between them, they obviously cared for each other but the word love had never come to mind. Elizabeth Weir who had refused to let people get that close to her heart, could she really had found love as a vampire? Still, it had been less than two months, how could you fall that deeply in love with some in such a short amount of time?

She looked at Ronon then and realised her own feeling for someone she barely knew weren't much different. She didn't know if she could call it love but she did feel something, something that went pretty deep and if it were her being forced to make a decision between her life here and Ronon, she wasn't sure which she would choose anymore.

She heard a shattering sound behind her and turned around in time to see the glass of the window near the fire escape raining down on the wooden floor. Several people walked through just as the door behind them crashed open, three more people came through there. One of them hit the light switch, casting the apartment into almost complete darkness, only a small amount of light from the moon illuminated the area near the windows. Teyla couldn't see anything, had no idea where their attackers were. There were no footsteps, no loud breathing; nothing to give away their positions and Teyla felt every muscle in her tighten with fear. She felt a breath on her neck, it was too low for it to be Ronon so she knew it was one of them, she turned around, swinging her arm out and it thankfully connected with something, from the grunt of pain she was fairly sure it had been a person.

She knew the layout of Ronon's apartment well enough by now; her bag was on the counter in the kitchen along with her wooden stake. If she could get to that she would at least have half a chance of defending herself and ... the UV torch was in there too, if she could get to that she'd have way more than half a chance of living through this.

* * *

Laura was sat on the counter in the lab, Rodney's complaining had become nothing more than background noise now and she was happily ignoring it. Carson was just helping Radek to clean up the last of the mess they'd made with their experiment and then she and Carson were going for dinner, late as it was. She wasn't sure how it had happened but she seemed to have ended up dating him without either of them realising it.

"I can't believe they actually cut our budget again and Laura will you get down from there, my lab counters are not chairs," Rodney continued and Laura nodded her head and then stayed exactly where she was as Rodney went back to complaining about their budget cut.

"Alright Laura," Carson said, taking off his white jacket and hanging it up by the door. "Ready to go?"

Before she could respond the door to the lab opened, a man that nobody seemed to recognise walked in. He stared at everyone in the room, his expression unreadable but Laura didn't like it at all.

"Can I help you?" Radek questioned but the man didn't respond, just looked at some papers in his hand, Laura got a brief glimpse as he lifted them, they looked like pictures, photographs maybe. He looked at everyone in the room once more, then back at the paper as though he was trying to compare them. He looked back through the glass door of the lab, nodding his head and a moment later five more people walked in.

Laura, who was still sitting on the counter, took in the appearance of all five people, four men and a woman. Her eyes widened as realisation hit her "Vampires," she said quickly and then everything happened quickly. The woman walked over to Laura, calmly as though she wasn't about to kill her and Laura slid off the counter, backing up toward her bag. She'd decided to follow Teyla's example and start carrying a wooden stake around with her, something she was grateful for now, if she could only get to it.

She kept her hand on the counter as she walked backwards, almost sighing in relief when she felt it connect with the leathery fabric of her bag. She slowly put her hand in the bag, hoping the vampire didn't notice her movements. No such luck though, just as her hand found the wooden stake the woman saw what she was doing and lunged forward with a speed that Laura hadn't been prepared for. She was knocked back into the wall, pinned there by the woman's hands but fortunately she had managed to keep her own hand on the wooden stake.

The woman bared her vampire teeth, pointed fangs that were aimed for her neck and Laura lifted the piece of wood, slamming it into the vampire's chest. The woman stepped backward, releasing Laura from her vice lie grip and staring down at the weapon stuck in her chest. She fell to the floor then and Laura only just registered that it was the first time she'd actually killed anyone, whether they'd been a vampire or not she'd taken a life.

She didn't have long to ponder the thought, instead she knelt down beside the dead woman, taking the wooden stake from her chest and turning her attention to the rest of the fight. One vampire was on the floor, a small knife sticking out his chest, it had probably just missed his heart but she was willing to bet it hurt like hell. Rodney was still struggling with one of the vampires; Carson was holding his own against another but Radek wasn't doing so well against the remaining two.

He'd been knocked to the floor, one vampire holding him down whilst another prepared to feed on him. She ran over to him, stabbing the vampire that had been heading for his neck in the back, hoping she'd got his heart. She didn't wait to find out, she stood up straight again and kicked the other vampire, her boot connecting with his face and sending him flying backwards.

"Thank you," Radek said as he sat up and then pulled her down to the floor, the vampire who had previously been on the floor with a knife in his chest had apparently gotten up and wasn't too pleased about being stabbed. He'd tried to grab Laura but fortunately Radek had seen it and pulled her out of harms way, he turned to his side, grabbing the wooden stake from the body of the male vampire and stood up, hitting the stumbling vampire exactly where his heart should be.

The sound of crashing diverted Laura's attention to where Rodney had been throw across the room, slamming into a wooden cabinet and breaking part of it before he slumped to the ground. The vampire that had thrown him was closing in on him and Rodney looked around him nervously, his hand grabbing a broken piece of wood and ramming it into the vampire's chest as he knelt down to grab him.

Laura ran over to him, leaving the now armed Radek to deal with the other vampire; she picked up a piece of wood and threw it to Carson who only just saw it in time to grab it. He hit the vampire with it, missing his heart the first time and pulling it out to make another attempt. When the vampire hit the floor he was dead, all of the vampires were dead.

"Anyone hurt?" Carson asked slightly shakily, everyone shook their head and Laura walked over to her bag, pulling out her cell phone.

"I'm gonna call Teyla and Ronon, we'll need some help getting rid of these bodies and the sooner the better, if the police show up we'll have a hell of a time explaining this," she stated, her voice shaking slightly and Carson walked over to her. She gave him a small smile as she held the phone to her ear, the ringing seemed to gone on forever before it went to voice mail. "She's not answering," she said worriedly.

* * *

Lorne left the police station, his car was parked pretty close and he was grateful he'd been given such a good parking space; he was too tired to walk a great distance just to reach his car. A whole day of paperwork was more tiring than people would think.

A man stepped in front of him, another behind and a third to his left and Lorne had no doubt in his mind what was going on. He reached into his coat pocket, pulling out his wooden stake out. The vampire in front of him smirked as though he wasn't at all afraid of the weapon and Lorne decided that would be his mistake. He waited for the vampires to make the first move, the man who smirked being arrogant enough to make the first attempt. Lorne hit him, his fist colliding with his face and halting his attack long enough for Lorne to stake him.

The other two vampires hesitated and Lorne decided to use that against them, he moved toward the vampire at his left, he didn't react quickly enough and Lorne was able to stake him as well. The third vampire grabbed him from behind, using his strength to throw him against one of the concrete pillars in the parking lot. He fell against the floor, standing even as dazed as he was and trying to see where the final vampire was.

The hand that grabbed his arm was answer enough and before the vampire could throw him into something else Lorne swung for him with his free arm, somehow managing to hit the vampire. He turned around, staking him and taking a deep breath when he fell; he wasn't dead yet, he had a small smirk on his face.

"You're dying, what's so funny?" Lorne questioned.

"It doesn't matter... the others will get your friends... and it's just a matter of time... before they get you," the vampire managed to choke out, the blood gurgled sound the last he made before he died.

* * *

"Can we go out?" Elizabeth asked, she had yet to get used to sleeping during the night and going out during the day, it was taking her some adjusting. John seemed to be having just as much trouble with it, maybe more since he'd been a vampire a lot longer than she had. She wasn't sure what was going to happen to them now, Lorne had been right that John couldn't go back to his former life now; there would be too many unanswerable questions. Well, not unanswerable, they had answers, just none that people would actually believe.

"Where do you want to go?" John questioned, they both knew it wasn't safe after dark anymore but they were gonna go crazy stuck in a hotel all the time, at least at night the chances of anyone recognising them were slim, an advantage to the night life that vampires had to live, there was less chance someone from your past life would see you.

"I'd say the all night shopping mall but with all the vampires there that would be a bad idea," Elizabeth replied thoughtfully.

"Do you think they know that almost all the customers they gate after dark are actually vampires?" John questioned humorously and Lizabeth raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes John, I'm sure they sit around at the monthly board meetings, looking at the numbers saying 'and 50 percent of our customers are vampires, I think we need to market toward them a little more, perhaps an 'All the humans you can eat restaurant', seriously John, how would they possibly know that?" Elizabeth replied, trying not to laugh as John narrowed his eyes at her.

"No need to get nasty, smartass," John said and Elizabeth smiled and walked across the room to where he was standing, eyes still narrowed.

"I'm sorry," she stated, kissing his cheek "But you made that one really easy."

She laughed as she walked away, trying to find her jacket in the bag she'd brought from her apartment. When she didn't find it she decided to steal the one John had been wearing earlier, it was too big for her but she didn't particularly care.

"We can just take a look around," John stated, grabbing his other jacket and opening the door. She walked out of it and stopped when she saw the group of people walking down the corridor toward their room. They spotted her just as John joined her and Elizabeth had no doubt in her mind who they were and why they were here. They couldn't win this, hadn't even been able to win the last one and that had been against less vampires.

"Fire escape," John said quickly, grabbing her arm and running in the opposite direction to the oncoming group. The pounding footsteps behind them told Elizabeth the vampires were coming after them with more speed than John and Elizabeth were capable of out running.

One of the vampires caught up to them at the door, Elizabeth reached into her purse, pulling out the wooden stake Teyla and Lorne had insisted she carry. She ducked, barely avoiding the fist of the vampire and slammed the stake into his chest, not bothering to wait for him to die. She turned around, John had opened the fire escape door and the two of them ran through it, making their way down the metallic stairs as quickly as they could.

Another vampire caught up to them, John being the one behind got hit and almost stumbled forward into Elizabeth. "Keep going," he shouted at her and with some hesitance she ran, she was almost at the bottom when a vampire landed on the steps in front of her, using the metal railing to swing down. She didn't waist any time, he was lower on the stairs than she was so she kicked him in the chest and watched as he fell backwards. He stopped when the stairs turned and she ran passed him before he could recover.

Glancing up she saw John was on his way down again, the dead or dying body of a vampire sprawled on the metal behind him and more vampires chasing them from further up. John passed the vampire she had knocked down the stairs, he was just about to get up when John kicked him in the face, knocking him unconscious. He reached the ground and ran to stand beside her as several vampires jumped down, crossing the distance between where they had been and the floor, if anyone but a vampire had tried to jump that far they would probably have broken their legs.

Trapped in the alleyway John and Elizabeth had no choice but to fight, to the side of them was a pile of rubbish and John walked over to it, pulling out a thin stick of wood which looked like it had once been a staircase rail. It had obviously broken though and John snapped the worn wood in half, handing one part to Elizabeth.

"You will not live through this," a voice said and the vampires parted to reveal an older looking man in his forties. Elizabeth saw John tense beside him and she looked at him in confusion.

"Chaya's father," he whispered and Elizabeth felt a sense of dread go through her.

"It is cowardly to run from a fight," Andrew stated.

"Not if you know your gonna lose, then it's smart," John replied and Elizabeth resisted the urge to hit him over the head, now was not the time for stupid comments.

"You killed my daughter," Andrew said, ignoring John's comment, he walked closer to them and Elizabeth could see both coldness and anger in his eyes.

"She tried to kill us first," John stated as Andrew stopped walking, Elizabeth tightened her grip on the piece of wood John had given her.

"We know about the cure," he said quietly, obviously it wasn't common knowledge and he didn't want the other vampires to hear it. "Hit squads are taking out all of the others who were involved, including the slayer and that pesky Emmagan. By morning, all of you will be dead and life can go on as it should, minus of course my daughter but killing you will help with that."

Andrew gestured for the other vampires to come forward, Elizabeth counted five of them left, not including the one that was still unconscious on the fire escape. She raised the wood in her hand, stepping back to avoid the fist of one vampire only move straight into the arms of another, he grabbed her around the waist and held her in place as the other moved closer to her. It seemed he had no intention of feeding on her, instead he carried his own wooden stake and he raised it, prepared to bring it down on her chest.

Elizabeth kicked her legs out, somehow managing to connect them with the vampire's knees and heard a sickening crack which was probably one of his knees breaking. The vampire holding her was shocked enough that he loosened his grip on her and Elizabeth used that to her advantage, shifting in his arms so she could elbow him in the stomach. He released her completely now and she turned around, staking him in the heart and within a second he fell to the ground dead. She took the piece of wood from his chest as the other vampire grabbed her ankle, not yet ready to give up the fight and she turned on him, staking him as well.

John had already killed two of the three vampires that had gone for him and she saw him take out the third and final one. Something grabbed her hair from behind yanking her backwards as an arm, which could only belong to Andrew, went around her waist. He pulled at her hair painfully and despite her efforts to hold it back a small cry of pain escaped, attracting John's attention. He turned around, in time to see Andrew move his hand to her throat. John took a step toward them, anger evident in his movements.

"Ah ah, I wouldn't do that Mr Sheppard," Andrew taunted, halting John's footsteps "Unlike the two of you I have all the strength of a vampire, one quick twist of my hand and I can break her neck, killing her just like you killed my daughter. You're going to watch her die John, see what it feels like to lose someone you love."

Elizabeth's eyes connected with John and though she tried not to show it she knew he could see her fear. Along with the knowledge that she was about to die came the realisation that she had never told John how she felt about him, she was sure he knew but she she'd never been able to say it. She kept her gaze on him and mouthed the three words she hadn't been able to say before 'I love you'.

John obviously got the message, his eyes darkened and he looked at Andrew "Let her go," he said, a fierce protectiveness in his tone and something dangerous she hadn't heard from him before, not even when he had threatened Michael.

Andrew laughed "You are in no position to make demands Sheppard. In fact I've had enough of this game."

Elizabeth felt Andrew's hand tighten on her neck and she closed her eyes, for the second time in as many days waiting for death to come. It felt closer this time though and she felt the dampness of a tear as it moved slowly down her cheek. She heard footsteps, knew John was trying to stop Andrew but she also knew he wouldn't be fast enough.

Instead of the death she was expecting she head Andrew grunt in pain, his hold on her weakening. She opened her eyes, John was stood in front of her, staring in surprise at Andrew and she pulled herself free from him, turning around as Andrew slumped to the floor, the vampire they had knocked unconscious standing behind him with a metal pole in his hand, blood coating the end of it.

Chaya had apparently got her stubborn determination from her a father, a trait that would be admirable under other circumstances. He pushed himself to his knees, ignoring the bleeding wound his back, the vampire's speedy healing ability already taking care of it. He picked up the piece of wood that was nearby, the one that Elizabeth had dropped when he'd grabbed her and swung for Elizabeth, almost hitting her as he got to his feet. John wasted no time in stepping forward; he stuck his own piece of wood into Andrew's chest, watching as the men fell back to the floor, dying within seconds.

John and Elizabeth both turned to the vampire, who dropped the pole. "If there's a cure for this, I want it," he told them and Elizabeth released a breath of relief as John reached for her. He kept a wary eye on the vampire even as he pulled Elizabeth into a hug, holding her to him so tightly she almost couldn't breath, not that she cared about oxygen at that moment, as long as she was getting enough to live, she really didn't mind.

* * *

Her fumbling hands finally found her bag through the dark and she reached inside, she had no idea where anyone was, not even Ronon. She found the wooden stake and put it down on the counter right in front of so she'd be able to find it again, a moment later her hand found the cool metal of the UV flashlight. She pulled it out of her bag, switching it on and the small circle of light immediately shined on the vampire that had been trying to sneak up on her. He cried out in pain, trying to back away but Teyla kept the light on him, her free hand grabbing the wooden stake as she walked toward the vampire.

She removed the light from him and staked him before he had chance to recover, that was one down. By her count there had been at least seven of them, four came through the window and three through the door. She felt a hand on her shoulder and span around shining the flash light on whoever had touched her.

"Relax, it's just me," Ronon's voice told her instead of the scream of pain she'd been expecting.

"I thought you'd quit sneaking up on me," she hissed, knowing full well the vampires could hear them anyway.

Ronon turned around suddenly, and Teyla followed his move with the flashlight only just seeing the vampire that had been behind him. Ronon had already got his hands on a wooden stake and he hit the vampire easily, allowing him to collapse to the floor dead.

"I'm going for the lights," Ronon whispered and then disappeared into the dark again. Teyla sighed and looked around her, casting the flashlight on everything she could in search of the vampires, there were five left somewhere and she didn't want anymore sneaking up on her. The light found one of them who cried out and then ducked down behind the couch Teyla walked toward it, the light finding it again and as it struggled against the burning pain she staked it, wondering how she could kill like this and not feel guilty.

They came to kill her; she had to remind herself of that, they were here to kill her and Ronon just for knowing what they know. With that thought in mind she continued her search, there was the sound of a struggle coming from near the door and she pointed the flash light in that direction, even when the sound stopped. She located a body, too small to be Ronon so it had to be another vampire, that was four down, three still to go.

A moment later the lights came on and she saw Ronon standing by the light switch, before she could do anything a heavy weight pressed into her side, knocking her to the floor. It took her several moments to register it as a person, one of the remaining vampires. She'd dropped the flashlight but the stake was still in her hands, she aimed it for female vampire's chest but she grabbed her hand to stop her, turning the stake toward Teyla.

Using every bit of strength she could find she pushed the vampire to the side, forcing it to fall off her and giving her the upper hand, even if it was only for a second. A second was all she needed though, she slammed the stake into the woman's chest, she died quickly and Teyla took the wood back. Ronon had already killed one of the other vampires but the final one was no where to be seen. They both searched the room and Teyla jumped when something fell against her, she turned around, the body of a vampire hitting the floor and she looked up, Lorne was stood there with Ronon's crossbow.

"Hey," he said, a small smile tugging at his lips and Teyla laughed at the sheer insanity of the whole situation. Laura rushed up behind Lorne, her eyes scanning the bodies that now littered the apartment and then looking at Teyla, Lorne and Ronon who were all still smiling.

"If something's funny could you tell me cos I don't see it," Laura stated and Teyla shook her head as Carson, Radek and Rodney also arrived, all of them looking exhausted and a little rattled.

"What's going on?" Teyla questioned.

"We got attacked at the lab, they were pretty determined to kill us all too," Laura informed her and Teyla sighed.

"I was attacked on my ay out of the station," Lorne added as he grabbed his cell phone from his pocket. "I gave John a cell phone in case we need to call him and Elizabeth," Lorne stated and it only just occurred to Teyla that if the rest of them had been attacked then they probably had too.

"They're not picking up," Lorne replied in concern and Teyla was about to start worrying about it when two more people walked through the door.

"That's cos we don't have the phone," John stated as he and Elizabeth joined the group, Elizabeth had an angry red mark around her neck, one that looked very much like a hand.

"We got attacked at the hotel, Chaya's father was with them , he told us he knew about the cure and hit squads were coming after all of you as well," Elizabeth explained and Teyla felt a wave of frustration, would this never end?

"It would explain why they decided we all had to die," Lorne said "A cure would be a huge threat to them, as would anyone who knew about it."

"Which would be everyone in this room," Teyla continued and turned to look at the bodies. "What do we do now?"

"We clean up these bodies, it doesn't look like the police have heard about our little break in," Ronon began "Everyone can stay here for now; I doubt they'll attack again tonight and we can figure out what to do in the morning."

* * *

After a restless night with everyone struggling to sleep, the group went through their morning activities. Carson and Teyla were cooking breakfast; John, Ronon and Lorne were boarding up the broken window which they'd merely covered with a sheet of plastic last night. Elizabeth and Laura were sweeping up the broken glass, Radek was in the bathroom and Rodney was still asleep, snoring away on the couch, the only person who hadn't had trouble sleeping.

"Breakfast," Teyla shouted and threw a towel at Rodney's head, waking the scientist with a snort and a grunt.

Radek emerged from the bathroom and everyone sat down to eat, most of them only going through the motions of it, no one but Rodney seemed to have a particularly good appetite that morning. Once everyone was finished they sat their in awkward silence, nobody wanted to say what they were all thinking.

"They won't stop until we're all dead," Lorne finally stated.

"We've survived this long," Teyla continued before the conversation could die again "But we can't keep doing this forever, sooner or later our luck will run out."

"So what do we do?" Carson questioned.

"There's only one thing we can do... we disappear," Lorne told them all and there were several ashen faces in the group, the idea not sitting well with the majority, not even Lorne himself seemed to like the idea.

"Well, we were going to do that anyway," Elizabeth stated as she sat next to John, her hand in his as it rested on his lap. John turned to look at her, his eyes going from hers to the red mark on her neck and Teyla could see now what Ronon had meant last night. Elizabeth did love him and John even more obviously loved her.

"It would mean giving up everything," Rodney stated "Our homes, our families, our careers, I don't know about the rest of you but I've worked hard to get where I am and I've got a promising career ahead of me."

"Which will mean nothing if you die," Laura pointed out

"Look they won't attack again until tonight, you all have that long to figure out what you want to do," Lorne stated "In the mean time, I'll start setting things up."

* * *

Everyone had gone about their day separately, each making their own decision. After calling work to tell them she was sick, Laura had gone with Carson, Radek and Rodney to the lab to get as much data as they could on the cure, they wanted to make sure they had plenty of backups since the lab was likely to get hit again, probably that night. Lorne had gone to the station to start setting up new lives for everyone, once they were in place people could decide if they wanted to take them.

John and Elizabeth had stayed in the apartment, neither wanted to get seen by anyone who might recognise them. Ronon had kept pretty much to himself all day and Teyla had gone to the store to buy everything that those who decided to go would need for the trip, a ridiculous amount of chocolate, sweets and soft drinks included.

Everyone finally arrived back at the apartment as Lorne informed them all that everything was set, their train would be leaving in an hour, anyone who wanted to go would have to be on it. They all gathered around, everyone except Ronon who was still in his bedroom.

"I know we have to give up a lot," Lorne stated "I've been thinking about this all day. I love being a cop, I've worked my entire life to get here and the idea of giving all that up isn't hugely appealing but neither is dying. If I stay here that's what will happen sooner or later and as Laura said earlier, none of what I've worked for will matter much when I'm dead, not only that but staying puts other people in harms way. So I'm going and a day isn't much time to make a decision like this but we don't have a lot of time, you all need to decide now."

"We're coming," John said almost immediately, his and Elizabeth's decision had been made even before the attacks last night.

"I'm going to," Laura said with a nervous glance at Carson.

"So am I," the doctor told them and gave Laura a small smile, Laura returned it, obviously relieved.

"I will also be going," Radek stated "What good is being a scientist if you're not around to use what you know."

"I guess I'm coming too," Rodney informed them, there was still some uncertainty in his voice but it seemed he had made his decision.

Teyla was the only one left and she found she couldn't answer, she knew what she should do, she should go but there was another factor in her decision, she was surprised to find it was the biggest factor of them all. She stood up without a word and walked away from the group, she knew they needed an answer but she couldn't give it to them yet. She walked over to Ronon's bedroom, knocked on the door and waited for his reply, the muffled 'What?' that came through the door. Teyla decided that was invitation enough and walked in, finding Ronon stood by the window, staring out at the streets below.

"The others have all made their decision," she told him "They're all going."

"Are you?" he asked her.

"I should," she replied and watched for his reaction, his jaw tightened as did his shoulders and she knew that she couldn't go, not if he didn't go with her. Elizabeth's decision to go with John made complete sense to her now. "But I won't... not unless you come."

"I can't go," he said quietly and Teyla closed her eyes, in all honest she had expected him to say, she knew he wouldn't just be able to give up his fight against vampires, not after everything they had taken from him, he wasn't the type to just let things go. Still, part of her had hoped that he would agree to go, she wanted to be safe, wanted to go with the others and leave all of this behind her.

"Then I won't go either," she barely whispered, she knew that staying would probably mean dying at some point but she wouldn't, couldn't go without him. As much as she wanted to be safe, she wanted to be with him more.

"You have to go, they'll kill you if you stay here," he stated and she shook her head.

"It's a risk I'm willing to take, I'm staying with you," she informed him, her voice stronger than it had been since she entered the room. She meant what she said and he had to know it.

"They took my wife, I promised I'd kill every one of them," he said as though he was trying to remind himself, maybe even convince himself of why he had to stay.

"What would she want you to do?" Teyla asked, aware she was probably walking over very thin ice now.

Ronon sighed, his shoulders dropping "She'd want me to go; she'd want me to move on."

"And what do you want?" she questioned.

"You," was all the response he gave her and it only solidified her resolve to stay with him, to follow him wherever he chose to go.

"You have me," she told him and he finally looked at her, something in his expression that she had never seen before, a softness she'd known was there but had never been able to see. She wanted nothing more than to grab him and kiss him in that moment but she couldn't, not yet at least.

"Not if you get killed," he whispered and she had no response to that, it was true and if she stayed here it would inevitably happen, there was only so many times you could face down death before it finally got you and she was probably way passed the point where it should have beaten her. "I'll go with you," he said after several moments of silence and Teyla looked at him for a moment, she didn't want him to regret his decision. The look on his face told her he had made up his mind, this was what he wanted.

She finally gave into the impulse to kiss him, she pulled his lips to hers, kissing him with far more intensity than their first kiss had held. He kissed her back, his fingers running though her hair as he pulled her closer to him. They finally left the room together; the others were still sat around the couches talking amongst themselves.

"We're coming," Teyla told them and Lorne nodded his head.

"Alright, the train leaves in an hour, everybody pack your things and be back here in half an hour, we'll head to the train station together. We'll be well on our way out of Atlantis by the time it gets dark," Lorne instructed everyone who nodded and started to head out of the apartment to gather their things.

* * *

Athos was beautiful, especially in the country side, from the top of the hill you could see for miles, fields and trees and the river, only a few houses scattered though out. The sun was only just rising, sending streaks of orange and pink through the sky as it came slowly over the horizon. John sat on the grass, Elizabeth's head on his shoulder as they watched night turn into day. They'd made a point of watching the sunrise, after being forced to run away from it they intended to enjoy every single one.

They'd been in Athos for almost six months now, coming here was a decision John had never once regretted, he hadn't been sure he would be able to settle into the quiet life of the country side but with Elizabeth here it had been easy. There had been no vampire attacks, in fact after the first few weeks the fear of vampires had gone completely. The information on the cure had been stored away in a dozen different places as well as given to the vampire that had helped to save Elizabeth the day before they had come here, hopefully he'd find a use for it.

"I love you," Elizabeth said, she'd say the words at the most random times as if she wanted to catch him off guard with them. He smiled and tightened his arms around her waist, kissing the top of her head in a way that had become normal for him.

"I love you too," he replied and they fell into silence again as the sun continued to rise. It was almost half an hour before either of them moved, they stood up and headed down the hill, making the short walk back their house. The group had come here and moved into a group of houses that almost seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. In truth the nearest town was only twenty minutes away by car but they all felt safer away from the busy towns and cities, there were no vampires out here.

"Don't you ever get sick of seeing the sun rise?" Teyla questioned as she and Ronon walked up to them, the four of them going into John and Elizabeth's home.

"No," Elizabeth replied simply as she walked though to the kitchen the rest of the group following her.

"Carson took Laura to the hospital this morning for her first scan," Teyla stated, excitement colouring the woman's voice.

"She's bouncing around about that all morning," Ronon groaned and John smiled as Elizabeth got caught up in the excitement of it as well.

"We're gonna be Aunts, what's not to be excited about," Elizabeth stated and the two women started chatting away. Ronon rolled his eyes and John smirked, of all the people he'd expected to struggle to settle in here Ronon had been at the top of his list and struggle the man had. It had taken him a couple of restless months but he seemed to have found his peace here now, seemed to have finally settled and he figured Teyla had something to do with it.

Rodney had taken to inventing all manner of things in his house, people usually stayed away from there for fear of what might happen to them if they go in. Radek was the only one brave enough to venture in there, usually joining Rodney in trying to invent some new power source or something, for that reason Radek was usually the guy they sent in to tell Rodney something or drag the man out of his house to join them all for dinner.

Lorne had been as restless as John when they'd first come here, the cop in him hadn't been able to sit still for long but he too seemed to have found his place here, as well as the brunette in town. Carson and Laura had settled in here the easiest, taking to the country life far quicker than the others and were now expecting their first kid; it was going to get interesting around here.

They were all safe though and that was what mattered more than anything else, safe and alive and happy.

THE END

**Authors Note: Wow that was a long chapter and I can't believe that the whole story is over, as usual I don't know whether to be happy or sad about it. A big huge thanks to everyone who has ****read Crimson Night and an even bigger thanks as well as lots of hugs to everyone who has reviewed, it's you guys who keep me going even when I decide I hate every word I've written, I never really mean it I just go though 'I hate my writing' days. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it!**


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